


Star Wars - Trials of the Sith

by CJWrites897



Series: Star Wars - Trials of the Sith [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Combat, Female Protagonist, Lightsabers, Multi, Outer Space, Science Fiction, Sith Code, Sith Empire, Sith Training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJWrites897/pseuds/CJWrites897
Summary: The Sith are harsh. They can be cruel. They may be insane. But they are -always- strong.The journey to that strength is through the fire and the fury of trials where there is no mercy shown. While being forged into a weapon of the Empire, one has to have the strength of will, toughness of mind and the hardness of body. If they succeed, then they may, one day, be known as a Lord of the SIth.This is the story of one such weapon.
Series: Star Wars - Trials of the Sith [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1917721





	1. The Trial of Insight

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter of this work was actually supposed to be a one off story. So many people seem to have enjoyed it on other platforms that I've kept going. After about chapter 3 it goes from a specific short story to an expanded full book.
> 
> It is still a work in progress. I had a month off from writing it due a declining health from a heart ailment. On July 23rd I had heart surgery where some minor complications set in. After a while they diagnosed a lung issue (Pleural Effusion) that stemmed from the surgery. One and a half months later I am still dealing with it as it just refuses to completely clear up. As a result, I've only slowly been getting back into writing and publishing.
> 
> I do hope that you enjoy this as I've had a lot of fun going on an unexpected journey with this Talo'Ra. She is quite fun for me as even I don't know what she's going to do until I write it.
> 
> I'm closing in on the end of this tale and will be revisiting a much larger Star Wars series that I started years ago. (Probably a trilogy) I have a vast story to relate based on 3 years of DM'ing a role playing guild. I came up with out back story (Which is where the book starts when I'm done with Talo here) and 85-90% of the story beats throughout the time I ran it. I don't remember the details or dialogue by now so they will be my own as well, not stolen from others.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Chris / CJ Writes

**01 The Trial of Insight**

**The Sith Code**

Arriving at the landing pad of the stronghold of her master, Talo’Ra glanced out of the shuttle window apprehensively. She had been summoned here by her master, the Lord Degriro. Being the apprentice to the Blade Master of the Order had its perks, but also its downfalls. His expertise translated into swiftly learning techniques. It also had the unenviable effect of raised expectations in her abilities to higher than normal. She was not expected to be the next potential Blade Master, as that was the role of another of his apprentices. Her medical prowess dictated that she would have another destiny, still she would be looked to for skill with the saber she prized so much on her hip. She fingered it absently with these idle thoughts running through her head.

The shuttle landed with a bump once it finished rotating around into position so that the ramp faced into the complex. It was raining below in the grimy city that wasn’t fortunate enough to be above the clouds like her master’s hideaway. As the ramp lowered to reveal the inside of the shuttle, she nodded at the pilot who always got her here without incident. She walked down the ramp as she normally did and took her customary pause to look at the sky. The primary planet of Nal Hutta loomed largely in the sky as it shone brightly in the light of the nearby sun. At this distance all that could be made out is the oceans, continents and clouds. It was a beautiful sight if you ignored the reality of the planet’s polluted and desolate surface. Pulling herself from her reverie, she turned her attention to the door that led into the luxurious apartment she had come to know in recent years of her training.

Walking inside she noted the usual finery of lush carpets, collection of art on the walls, simple benches, numerous racks of weapons and armor stands. She had stopped to inspect the art and weapons in times past, to admire the craftsmanship of each weapon and armor piece. This day she walked distractedly past the decorations while absently noting the Spartan decorating scheme he seemed to relish. Turning to the left, she went to the end of the hallway where they normally met in his training room. Either practicing forms physically or in long discussions about how the forms came about and why they perform the way they do. The opaque glass door opened to reveal an empty room beyond. No looming masked figure dressed all in red and black in evidence. This was unusual in their meetings, but not unheard of. They had sometimes met in the next room that was something of a meditation chamber.

Turning around she walked back the way she had come a short ways to the next door on her left. Again the glass door opened and this time, the hulking figure of her master was there. He stood at parade rest with his hands clasped tightly behind him and stared at the door, presumably her as well, though it was impossible to tell through his mask. As she entered she noted the braziers with their customary low burning flames on the decorative shrine, light wisps of smoke rising from them. On the back wall, under the window sat twin tables with multi colored datacrons dancing in their individual sockets by slowly turning on different axes. As the apprentice entered, the masked figure nodded to her in his customary greeting. She bowed in response to this as both a required action given his status, but also out of respect for her master. Without preamble, He said "Tell me apprentice, what of the task I set you on? Have you completed it?"

Talo'Ra hesitated only a moment before answering his query. "Not as yet my master. I need but one victory to satisfy your requirements. I have a list of names should you wish to confirm my report. They are as follows: Apprentice Ukodi - Win. Apprentice Ruqua - Loss. Acolyte Belikar - Win. Apprentice Slutu - Win. Apprentice Zekoj’locar - Loss. Darth Sinasi - Win." She let that last name hang in the air with the improbable result seeming to reverberate weakly around it. Would he, the Blade Master of The Order, believe her? Did she believe it herself? Barely. It all seemed a bit hazy to her through the cloud of her own disbelief. Yet, it was the simple truth.

He stood contemplating for a moment before his reply fully formed in his mind. When he did speak, it was in a calm and even tone as he started to pace around the room as was his custom. "So the rumors I have heard are true. You defeated a mighty foe in the Darth." At this he paused and looked at her, assessing her potential prowess after the practical exercises and noting how much she’d grown. “For this, I grant you two victories as his standing is greater than any apprentice.” Turning to face her he says “Your Trial of Skill – Passed. The skill of using a form that is not accustomed to you and still being successful.” Turning away from her again, Degriro walked to the shrine then picked up a few pieces of strange bark. Placing one piece into each brazier he continued “Now apprentice, we shall move onto your next trial, if you feel that you are ready?”

  


Talo’Ra was taken aback by this turn of events. Not only was she believed, but also rewarded by being granted the ending to her trial. His speech seemed to fade into the distance as she was lost in thought on this. She absently watched the wisps of smoke turn purple in hue before what he said caught up with her brain. First trial done? Second trial already? She stammered out “Uh. Thank you master. I... Second trial? Don’t I need to train more for that?”

Degriro smiled behind his mask at her clearly being flustered in the moment. That was good as he meant to keep her off balance. He kept his tone even and quiet as he spoke to her saying “No further training is required for this trial. With that being said. Are you ready for this trial to begin?” Through the eye holes of his mask he watched intently for her answer, knowing what it will be.

The apprentice hesitated in thought only a moment before replying, “Yes master. If you think I am ready for it then I accept the….” Her answer was cut off as if with a knife when the heavy datacron slammed into the back of her head. The impact sent her sprawling face first into the carpet. The datacron still hovered over her back, held there by the Force. The hulking pure blood checked her to make sure no permanent damage was done and that she was just unconscious. He envied neither her destination this night, nor the fate of those who would be taking her if she could conquer her fear. There was no doubt in his mind of it happening, it was merely a matter of time. Using the Force he put the Datacron back on its repulsor field, then leaned down to remove her lightsaber and any valuables she may have on her person. Walking over to put down his findings, the Blademaster picked up a communicator and, pressing a single button, he turned around to wait.

A short time later, the Hutt mercenaries waiting in a hidden part of the stronghold entered the room. Seeing the unconscious woman on the floor, they looked at the imposing SIth in front of them for confirmation. The man nodded and declared “As promised, a strong and healthy woman for Nurella’s stable. Pay me and be gone with her.” The merc’s nodded and moved toward her, putting chains on her wrists and ankles. Handing over a credit marker to the lord, they picked up their burden and left without a word. Degriro watched this from behind his mask and knew he would see her again. He also knew that he had better watch his back around her from now on as she was going to be angry. Not foolish enough to attack him right away, however, she would be quite dangerous one day and then he would expect her to exact revenge.

The pair of mercenaries, a Trandoshan and a Gree, trundled their burden to the landing pad where their ship was landing on autopilot. Before the ramp had even touched the ground they were both walking up it and making their way to one of the holding cells for this kind of cargo. Throwing her in the cell the Gree closed the sound proof door and locked it. Nothing ruined a flight more than the cries and screams of newly caught slaves. Even though this would be a short flight to Nal Hutta, you never knew when one of the cargo would wake up.

Setting course to the pleasure dome, the ship lifted off and blasted into the atmosphere, making the transition from atmospheric to space flight without a hitch. The tricky part was always entering a planet’s atmosphere, turbulence caused by massive temperature changes caused some chop that always worried the Trandoshan. Nevertheless the trip was uneventful and the ship landed at the dock of the Pleasure Dome. After landing and lowering the ramp, they sent for the slave handlers to come relieve them of their cargo. It had been less than an hour so they doubted she was awake, but it was always uncertain. The handlers would have that problem if she was, it wasn’t their issue anymore. What was their issue was the bar where they could now get a drink with the waiting over.

Newly caught slaves were always a handful. For this reason the team that dealt with this was prepared with tranquilizer darts, electric prods and shock collars for when they’re subdued. They also wore light armor and soundproof helmets with internal and external microphones for communication. The external ones were always turned off right at the moment they opened the doors so that they didn’t have to listen to whatever nonsense was happening. This time they had nothing to worry about. The subject of this expedition was unconscious still and therefore easily transported to the new arrival pens. Once there and secure behind the thick durasteel doors and permacrete walls, the team went about their business. Removing her clothing by cutting it away in order to keep the chains in place. They put new shackles on her that were attached to a table and removed the regular chains. The table with her body on it moved into the decontamination chamber. New slaves were often disgusting and dirty, usually covered in nasty little critters. The table was a rolling metal contraption with many holes in it to let the liquid fall through, carrying any filth and dead parasites away with it. As the disinfectant sprays started washing down the naked figure, it started to stir.

Talo’Ra woke slowly even though she was being doused with cold liquids, first a disinfectant, then water to wash everything away. There was a ringing in her ears and a painful lump on the back of her head where she was laying. As the sprays ceased their functions, she opened her eyes a little bit to see only a hazy blur so she shut them again. A moment later she thought she heard doors open before the table started to move again. The table stopped abruptly and then she felt rough towels scraping her skin dry. This seemed to be familiar somehow but the pain in her head kept the pieces of the puzzle just out of her grasp. Deciding to try and solve a more immediate question, that being the pain in the back of her head, she reached up to feel the lump. As she moved her arm she heard clinking and felt a tug on that arm. Confused, she tried again, and again met the same result.

Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around wildly, whipping her head back and forth then down at the chains on her wrists and ankles. No wonder it all seemed familiar. She was back in Nurella’s Pleasure Dome and she was in chains again! A scream of pure terror escaped her lips and reverberated around the room. After filling her lungs again she screamed even louder and lightning started to shoot out of her fingertips as she sat up to try and escape. The electricity shorted out the table and chains attached to it, causing the shackles to pop open. Whipping her hands around, she fried the two handlers in the room with her, cooking them from the inside out with lightning. Trying to get up and run she tripped over the chains around her ankles. Scrambling to her feet she tried scampered to the door trying to batter it down with her fists and the Force. Several small and one large dent appeared in the door, however it was meant to withstand combat assault so it held.

An alarm started to sound and guards started to pour into the area. Not knowing what had happened, the first few opened the door to help subdue a new slave that was too much for the usual handling team. They were greeted by a naked and bloody human woman, screaming at the top of her lungs. Death swirled around her like a shadow as she lashed out with lightning again and again. The first few through the door were baked alive in their armor and died screaming. One was flung against the wall and crushed into jelly. A female guard had her torso twisted all the way around backwards in an ear splitting crunch of bones. After several minutes of confusion, sounds of electricity, screaming from guards and the woman, sounds of fat popping as it cooked off and blood flying, a backup team of handlers arrived with their tranquilizer darts.

The first dart hit Talo’Ra in the left butt cheek while she was facing the opposite direction, defending herself from the guards. It barely registered in her mind that she had been hit as it managed to penetrate the massive flood of adrenaline that was coursing through her body to a minor degree. She had managed to get a vibrosword from one of the guards and was lashing out with it blindly. The second and third darts took effect slowly, but overwhelm her, they did. The fourth dart sealed the deal and sent her crashing into the ground for the second time in as many hours. The crews assigned to clean up after the fact were horrified at the wreckage caused by what was rumored to be a single person.

  
  


The young apprentice woke a full day later, her eyes fluttering open slowly as she stretched her way to awareness. The room was not one that she was accustomed to seeing, but that wasn’t too uncommon as she had been going on missions as a medic for the Legion. Waking up in a strange area was almost normal at times. It was another moment before memory flooded in of the day before. The panic that she knew must be there was muted and almost silent, as was most everything in her observation. The drugs used to keep her placid had been doubled from a normal person until they could get a handle on her metabolism. She felt mentally sluggish, however her body was still reasonably agile as she rolled over in the bed and then stood up only swaying in place a little. The room was functional but nothing to write home about. There was a fairly large and luxurious bed against one wall. A well-lit vanity with a variety of makeup, glitter, wigs and other hair decorations was against the wall by the lavatory. On the other side of the door to that room was a closet full of all manner of seductive clothing. Looking down at herself she was wearing a small pair of shorts that barely covered anything and a belly shirt, with fuzzy pink slippers on the richly carpeted floor, should she decide to wear them. Another wall had mirrors on it to better judge outfits as they were mixed and matched to best attract paying clients. The final wall had the door out to the main corridor where all the slaves would funnel into the Dome itself and disperse to the awaiting crowds.

The full impact of what her life was, and now is again hit her like a speeder smashing into a canyon wall. Wait, she had power now. All she had to do was concentrate and. Nothing happened. She tried again and a third time, still nothing happened. The drugs couldn’t completely numb the feeling of panic welling up inside of her, but even that rush of emotion wasn’t enough for her to conjure up a spark. Whatever they were using it had her suppressed and off balance, hardly able to think coherently. The terror in her threatened to overcome even those barriers but still, she was blocked. Walking surprisingly steadily to the closet, she found a robe in which to cover up with, as more of a mental armor than for any reasons of temperature. The slave quarters were always kept at a comfortable level for their inhabitants, according to their race. The robe she found was sheer and didn’t leave much to the imagination, but it was better than nothing in her mind. Trying to calm herself she looked around the room for anything that she might be able to use to her advantage, knowing that there wouldn’t be in the slave quarters.

An hour or so later, her door opened and a middle aged Twi’lek walked in with a distracted expression while reading a datapad. Without looking up he started in on a speech he had made countless times before and was bored out of his mind. “I am Durda Ree. I am in charge of the females on this side of the complex. You may call me Administrator Ree, Sir or even ‘boss’. You will do all the things we require of you and live in luxury here, or..” He pressed a button on the datapad and Talo’Ra’s entire world was suddenly awash in agony. The shock collar on her neck discharged into her spine as it was designed to do and practically paralyzed her. An eternity later, the pain subsided. She found herself on her hands and knees with her forehead pressed into the luxurious carpet, throat raw from the scream that must have come. “Am I understood? I thought so. For now you are assigned to the dancing cages where you will perform daily and nightly for our guests. Once you have completed your trial period of two weeks, you will then be granted one day off per week. Where you go from there is up to you and your skills.” Looking up for the first time he said to the prostrate Human woman. “I have been told that you require extra harsh treatment for your past activities. What that was, I do not know, nor do I care. I simply follow directions and have your collar set to the max level.” Pressing the key again she screamed and writhed on the floor with her muscles contracting in random spasms.

Administrator Ree watched the writhing woman for a moment before releasing the button for the collar. After another moment or two, he asked benignly “Any questions? No? I didn’t quite catch that. Very well, then your first shift is in 2 hours. Wash up and make yourself presentable. I’ll be by to collect you at that time to show you where to go.” Turning to go the overseer mentions “You will find me hard, but fair. Pull your weight and we’ll have no problems.” Slowly recovering, the apprentice rolled to her back then sat up before reaching gently behind her neck, feeling the shock collar. Briefly she slumped in defeat and fell flat on her back, driving the collar into her neck with some force. It seemed to her that the collar pressing her neck was the capper to a very bad couple of days. She sat in contemplation about what had happened. Much of it was a blur or a complete blank. She did not know how this happened to her. Surely her master would be coming to rescue her. The entire temple would be roused to storm this place, raze it to the ground and make sure the message got out to not mess with the Sith. This brief moment of hope faded as she realized the nature of The Order. The strong survive, the weak do not. No one was coming for her. It was all on her shoulders to succeed or fail.

The two hours passed and she didn’t move from her spot on the floor when Durda Ree reentered the room. Observing the situation he simply activated the collar at its maximum setting while going back to the forms needing his attention on the datapad. A short time later he deactivated the device, mildly surprised that the Human was still conscious. There had been many that started out tough and he had broken every last one of them. It was only a matter of time. He left the room again leaving the miserable ball of pain where he had found her. He made a note in his file of this one that he needed to send her to the medbay after she woke up from the nap she was more than likely taking now. Perhaps this one wouldn’t take too long for him to shatter her will. It was a tedious process and the screaming did get hard to take. Not because of any feeling of pity for them, the only pity he had was for his ears during these times. He must remember to get a new set of hearing protection.

A week passed with the same results. The power source on the shock collar actually wore out and needed to be replaced while she was unconscious at the end of the first week. The second week was a little better, though her resilience flagged noticeably during this time. By the middle of the third week she was at the end of her reserves and finally decided to stop fighting. The drugs had her fogged over and she was concerned she might have permanent damage in her spinal column. If she didn’t want to spend her life in a chair or bed then she needed to stop fighting, get back into the groove with her slave life. The medical team had taken to accompanying the administrator in his visits to her room as they had to put her back together when he was done with her. On this day, she surprised all of them when they found her weakly trying to get herself ready to go dancing. Her clothes were haphazardly arranged and her makeup smudged. Durda Ree saw this and knew she couldn’t be presented in her current condition. She was clearly unable to make her debut in the cage, but she had not willfully failed this time. This did not require a punishment, merely a correction which he indicated to the medical staff. They sedated the former apprentice and cleansed her body before dressing her in night attire, then placed her in her bed to sleep. While in bed the medical staff gave her a series of injections to aid her healing process and strengthen her for the next day.

Through the night, Talo’Ra had many dreams. Most of which were of no consequence, the normal kind of warm dream that all beings had. Her final vision was anything but of the warm variety. In it she saw the meditation room of her master back on Nar Shadaa. The scene of her last meeting with him played before her as if she were watching a holo of it from an odd angle. Her subconscious mind showed her this as if she needed to understand something. She had no idea what this meant. She remembered the meeting and when she left. When she left… That was funny, she didn’t remember leaving his room. But what had happened in the intervening time she wondered. The answer was before her as the meeting drew to the interesting part of her starting her second trial. She was speaking when something dark and vague of shape hit her from behind and the scene winked out. A single voice could be heard afterwards and she could not make out the words at first, but she knew the voice well. “…oman for Nurella’s stable. Pay me and be gone with her.”

That phrase rang in her mind over and over as more words surfaced and the whole thing revealed itself to her. “As promised, a strong and healthy woman for Nurella’s stable. Pay me and be gone with her.” Degriro had sold her to the Hutt she had formerly belonged to. He had her enslaved again. He had knocked her out and taken everything she had. He had betrayed her. HE HAD BETRAYED HER!!!! In her mind she screamed in fury. She had never been so angry in all of her born days. Battering at the inside of her own skull she awoke with a fire in her brain that cleared all other thoughts away. All of the drugs in her system were burned away as she broke through the barriers that bound her. All fear, all emotion that wasn’t unrelenting rage was consumed by that emotion. There was nothing that would satisfy her but the blood of all those who had wronged her. They would die, though first they would suffer. She threw off her covers and fairly levitated out of the bed, hell bent on raining destruction down when she saw the heavy durasteel door in front of her. It triggered a zig zagging line of thoughts through her brain as she connected several things together. Even though her Force Powers and hand to hand combat skills were formidable, she wouldn’t get any further than the last time she went on a rampage. Eventually, numbers would take their toll, and this time she didn’t think she’d wake up in her room with a kriffing hangover. It took superhuman effort to control her emotions. She had been mad before, but now… Now she was angry, and there was a definite, deadly difference between the two. With great will she put the genie back in the bottle, though the cork was barely holding it back.

Her head was as clear as it had ever been once the struggle was over. She could finally think rationally and now she could plan to get out of this Hutt cursed hole. She had many obstacles to overcome and it would take careful thought. She knew the layout of the building now. But she did not know where she was in relation to the center of the building and where the docking bays were. In order to find this out, she would have to act on her best behavior for a short time while she got her bearings and formulated a plan. An hour and a half later, the Twi’lek entered her room with the medical team in tow as usual to find her fully clothed, so to speak, in a skin tight one piece miniskirt with a low cut front and high heeled knee high boots at the ready. She was finishing her makeup with a practiced, if rusty hand. The administrator noted the expert use of glitter on her exposed skin, just enough to catch the light and therefore the eye, but not overdone. He was impressed. Skeptical of the sudden turn around, but impressed nonetheless. Some slaves broke like this and were suddenly as meek as milk toast, their will completely shattered. Others thought themselves clever in acting this way, intending to fool him. He had seen it all before and would see it all again. There was nothing new under the sun. Nodding to her he said “Are you ready to perform as required?”

The Force user feigned a look of foggy understanding and nodded her assent. She busied herself with somewhat clumsily putting on her knee high boots and standing up. It took her a trip across the room and back twice to get readjusted to walking in such things. Satisfied, the manager motioned her to the door and then walked out in front of her in order to show her the way. Over the next six days she got oriented to her position in the complex and studied the patterns of the various staff. Placement and patrol patterns of the guards, when the various shifts started and ended for both entertainers and other staff alike. She even knew what time Nurella the disgusting Hutt arrived most nights. Back in her room she even managed to shock the medical droid that came to inject her with the Force suppressing agent before it could get to her. Quickly adding in a subroutine to the programming that made it register that her dosage had been administered and she was subsequently safe to handle. During this time that she was supposed to be harmless, she practiced using her telekinetic powers on smaller and smaller objects. Finally she reasonably reliably lifted a pin off of her table and sent it hurtling into a wall with a fair measure of accuracy. Not much more time and she would be deadly accurate. Taking another two days to practice this precision she was certain she wouldn’t miss if she needed that trick or other small fiddly things to be done with the force. The next four days saw her attempting to and then finally lifting the monstrous bed in her room. She slept soundly on it every night, absolutely exhausted from her struggles and dancing for several hours a day. She continued flexing her Force powers and extending the heavy lifting to more than one object at a time, though she could only manage two simultaneous objects at once. Meanwhile the angry woman had been keeping track of the days.

  
  


Her fortnight of only being allowed in the cage was almost over. In another two days she would have a full day off then be allowed to interact more directly with the customers. The administrator had only threatened to punish her twice more during that period in which she gave the best performances of her life, pretending to be afraid and begging for him not to shock her again. By the middle of the second week he was reasonably certain that she had been cowed and would likely never be a problem case again. The days passed with more practice and dancing in a cage. Her day off was spent actually resting and meditating. The next day would be spent on the prowl in the main arena of the Dome. Double checking her findings of timings and placements. One more day, two at the most and she would enact her plan of escape. The fear was back since the anger was in check, but now it was manageable. It would not control her this time, she would use it as a weapon.

  
  


The next day dawned on the grubby planet of Nal Hutta as usual. It was going to be hot and humid as usual. The pestilential swamps and fetid trees reeked of rot as they baked in the light of the sun. Above all this sat the massive complex of the Nurella the Hutt’s Pleasure Dome. A place where thousands came every day to squander their money for favors from the attractive slaves. It was a day like any other that started out hot, would get even hotter before simmering down to merely being hot again. Credits would change hands and tens of thousands of drinks would be quaffed. As far as anyone was concerned, it was just business as usual.

  
  


Today was the day. It was make it or break it time. She arose early that day to make her preparations. She put on a skin tight but stretchy bodysuit that allowed absolute freedom of movement, a complimentary belt and the dancing boots she had chosen for this day. They were at once appealing, fairly durable and provided sure footing. She did her makeup to perfection, as had been taught to her by the dancers of her last stay here. Once this was done she took extra time to do her hair, carefully placing in twenty of the decorative pins that were now her secret weapon. By the time she was ready to go, she was simultaneously scared and angry in equal measure, but she had clarity of thought like she’d never known. Her first step was just right out that door and down a hallway. She knew the second that her door unlocked and she was through it before the sound of clicking locks had faded. She sauntered down the hallway toward the administrator’s office as he no longer had to escort her, there was not a reason to leave until the next batch of new slaves came in. Knocking on the open door, she told him that she was going to go down early and try to get one of the better spots if that was alright with him. He gazed at her with bloodshot eyes and pointedly tapped the activator on his desk and noticed her cringe away before letting her go on. Leaving, she feigned walking slightly unsteadily down the hallway to the main door where Durda Ree could see every step. Finally satisfied he put her from his mind as just one of the slaves who needed to be managed and pampered to a degree. If they were at their best, they were able to bring in the most money.

Talo’Ra used her time wisely. With the main arena mostly empty it was much easier for her to pick the place that she would start the show at. Looking overhead she saw the various decorations and gauzy fabrics hanging from arches and poles everywhere. Various light sources were suspended at many levels. Finally choosing the right spot she waited. Nearly an hour went by as the slaves and entertainers started to flow in and set up for the afternoon’s activities that would carry on into the wee hours of the night. The young Sith sat in her chosen area, trying different seating positions and leaning her head back as if she were just idly looking at the ceiling and watching the light show that happened constantly. Finding her ideal spot she acted as if she were simply stretching when she reached out with the Force and grabbed onto a massive light and shook it back and forth. Confident she could do what she wanted to accomplish, she got up and went to the bar, ordering her favorite meal in this place. Once the plate was served up and placed on a tray with a drink, she returned to her spot in roughly the middle of the large room. The young woman savored every bite as if it was, and very well might be, her last meal. She washed it all down with a fruit juice cocktail that she liked. By the time she had to act, all of the effects of the drink would be long gone. For now, it helped her relax and keep her focused on using as little energy as was possible until it was her time to shine.

Hours passed and she made her customary trips back to the dorms to freshen up. Most of the females did it so Durda Ree didn’t even look up at the normal traffic. Back up the hallway. It was close to his normal time to leave for the night and he wanted to finish up the last of his work. Most of the time this was a simple process unless it was the end of a week and extra reports needed to be done. The Pleasure Dome made money hand over fist, but Nurella demanded that there be constant audits and accountings of every credit spent. Even for a Hutt, she was notoriously greedy and tight fisted with anything money related. The fact that she allowed so much latitude with the slaves eating what they wanted and taking care of them so well in their quarters seemed like a minor miracle to him. The administrator looked up at the faint sound of someone knocking on the door. It was difficult to hear a lot once the music was going full blast in the main arena, the bass booming through the walls. His first year had been a nightmare of dealing with datapads, controllers, and everything else not secured firmly, eventually vibrating to the side of his desk and falling off, likewise things on the shelves. Years later, he now had everything neatly arranged and in the system that he liked. Seeing the human woman he’d broken so recently standing before him, he somewhat impatiently said “Yes?” before looking back at his datapad.

The woman smirked at him for a moment before saying “I just wanted to thank you for all of your considerate and tender treatment when we first met. You were ever so kind.” When he looked up at her, she could see the confusion in his eyes as he tried to comprehend what she had just said. He couldn’t have heard her right and indicated so. “You were ever so kind when we first met. All the extra time you took with me.” As she said this, her face fell from the feigned smile to her normal stoic expression. Durda Ree was annoyed now that he was sure the slave was taunting him. This kind of insolence could not be tolerated and he was about to tell her so before activating her collar. Opening his mouth to speak it turned into a scream as she unleashed a stream of lightning into him that would have killed three of him. She would have kept it going longer and slower but she didn’t have much time and only so much energy. The blast cooked him from the inside out, blood spouting from his mouth where it had boiled out of his lungs and the corpse smoked.

Pausing a moment, Talo’Ra let an evil smile play across her face as she savored this vile thing’s death. His ending was too quick, too merciful for the hatred she had built up for him in such a short time, but it would have to do. There was much to be done and a short window for it to be completed or she would never live to exit this cursed place. Opening the cabinets and drawers quickly she found the key to the shock collars and removed hers. After debating for a moment she kept the key and found a first aid box. Opening it she took out a hypo and two vials, one of Kolto and one of a stimulant should she need either of them. The belt she wore had several pouches in it where credits were normally stored for tips and services rendered in a private room. The key and vials went into those pouches now, while the hypo was placed in the top of her right boot. She closed the door to the administrator’s office and a chapter of her life. After today there would be no returning to anything she had before. Walking quickly down the hallway back to the arena she entered and started searching for someone. Twenty minutes later the apprentice finally found her quarry. She casually half sauntered, half danced her way over and told the males that she needed to borrow the slave but would be back to make it up to them.

Ryla Varren was an older Cathar female who had been a slave there for many years. Talo’Ra knew her the last time she had been here, though the Cathar had not recognized her at first. This female had been the only one who didn’t try to take advantage of the girl when she arrived. Instead she took the very young one under her care and taught her how to survive. The now mature woman had never forgotten. Once recognition did set in, Ryla was elated that the girl was still alive and not dead like she had thought. Keeping it to herself, she chose to wait and make their reunion a private one. Talo’Ra had been wary at first but quickly accepted being mothered again by the Cathar she had known long before. They discussed what had transpired for each of them in the time they had been apart. The apprentice had much more to tell than the Cathar who had been held in bondage with one day being much like the rest. Deciding she could trust this being, Talo’Ra related what had happened to her and the training she had received from the academy. Even going so far as to trust her with her greatest secret while in the Dome by showing her a small demonstration by lifting a hair brush then making sparks dance across her fingers. She was going to escape being a slave once again, but would not give any further details as what is not known, cannot be revealed through torture.

Talo’Ra pulled her through the crowd, laughing and dancing all the way until they got to the doors to the dorms. Once inside she slammed the door behind them looked intently at Ryla before pulling her in close and muttering into her ear “Tonight.” The Cathar stayed close for a moment staring at the wall behind the Human blankly, then pulled back slowly. The female gazed intently into the bright yellow eyes of the Human in front of her, breath starting to come faster. The young woman pulled the shock collar key from her belt and placed it in Ryla’s hand, then pointed to her neck. The Cathar looked in her palm and was transfixed by what she saw. This was really happening. She had somehow gotten the key and was actually going to pull it off. She began to tremble in anticipation when the Human shook her to break the moment, giving her an intense look that said everything she needed to know. Motioning with her hand, the young Sith pointed at the others chest then the ground before holding up 5 fingers. Once Ryla understood the show would start in 5 minutes, she nodded heavily. “Message me” was the only other thing she uttered before placing a hand on the older female's shoulder and squeezing lightly. Closing the door again as the human left. Ryla looked at the key again then rushed back to her room to gather a couple of items that meant a great deal to her before coming back to the door to the Arena and standing there nervously. In that time several slaves had come and gone after freshening up for a couple minutes. Years seemed to pass before she heard a moan as of metal being stressed and then a deafening crash. The screams started a moment later once whatever happened continued. Using the key to quickly remove her collar, she threw both down the hallway as far as she could before whipping open the door and hurtling toward her destiny.

Talo’Ra left Ryla behind and silently wished her luck with Force guidance. She put on her game face and half danced her way back to the spot she had chosen. Looking up she saw exactly what she knew would be there, the disgusting slug of a Hutt, Nurella. Lowering her head back to the immediate area, she saw a pair of drunk males in her chosen seat. Pulling a pin from her hair and holding it in the palm of her hand, she looked at where they sat and then shot the pin through both of their necks and into the seat behind them. The entry hole wasn’t too large but the exit was a different story as they began bleeding profusely out of their wounds. Grabbing one in either hand she flung them backwards behind her on the floor where no one would notice them at all as beings were always passing out from too much drink. Taking her place in the seat she hooked her feet behind the durasteel legs bolted to the floor, in case she needed the extra leverage. Gripping the chair she reached out her arms and the Force to grip a pair of light fixtures roughly over the head of the Hutt. Closing her eyes and pulling her arms back to her, the metal framework holding the massive fixtures in place began to groan. As the sound grew, more and more people began to look around for a source, but none could find it over the incredibly loud music. With a deafening snap, the metal gave way under the extra pressure it was never designed to hold. Both fixtures fell with barely a split second between them before they crashed into the platform holding the Hutt. The first one to land crushed a pair of Nurella’s Gammorean guardsmen to paste by her head, the second one flattened her tail, causing her to scream in a manner no one there had seen before. She began writhing around wildly, pinned in place by the impossibly heavy weight of the light. Opening her eyes she saw spots in her vision from the effort, and was disappointed to see the slimy thing was still alive. Possibly mortally wounded, but still alive. After a slight pause she reflected that this was actually better than she had planned, for now the kriffing thing really was suffering.

For a moment all was still after every head in the place snapped toward the crashing objects, a screaming Hutt the only thing to be heard other than music. Then seemingly everyone joined in at once with screaming of their own and rushing to get away from the area. Talo’Ra smiled openly as she reached out with the force again, snapping off several pennant poles one at a time and using them as javelins. The first one missed entirely, whistling past the stricken Hutt’s head, to shatter against the far wall. It was followed quickly by others as she was pulling them down two at a time to hurl at Nurella and the guards still up there. The second, third, fifth and sixth ones of the eight she threw found their marks. The second one skewering a guard through the middle before embedding the makeshift spear into the Hutt’s side, another one passing all the way through her head. Of the last two, one decapitated a Gammorean while the second hit was more of a glancing blow, sending a guard falling end over end, off the raised platform.

Satisfied that she’d had her revenge on that thing, she used the cover of the screaming crowd to make her way to where the exits were. The guards there were not worried about the slaves as their collars would go off if they crossed a certain point towards the exit. Walking boldly towards the exits with the rest of the panicked crowd she passed some overwhelmed Gammoreans at a choke point in the exit. When the crowds thinned more to scatter she began to encounter resistance. A guard squealed at her in its language then ran at her. She quickly seized a handful of pins from her hair and shot one through each of its eyes and destroyed its brain. Turning she repeated the action two more times before having to grab more pins. She started moving forward toward the fallen guards as more came in and she started flinging single pins into eyes hoping for the best. If nothing else they would be blinded partially and not be able to fight back. Picking up one of the axes favored by Gammorean guards, she started the spinning Jung Su Ma and rolling Ton Su Ma moves from her time with the Ataru form, effortlessly slashing through necks and spilling entrails. Soon a field of bodies surrounded her: some guards, some guests and even a couple of droids that had the misfortune of being around. The last droid caused her problems as the axe got stuck in its body. She had been spoiled by her lightsaber passing through most things with little effort. Dropping the axe she found a vibrosword on the body of a mercenary she didn’t remember killing, though it didn’t matter at all to her. Then she ran and made her way to the space docks where more guards were stationed. Several started firing at the blood spattered slave girl with a sword. The rest rushed at her. Two of the Trandoshan guards were close together with their blasters firing away when they were engulfed in a blast of lightning. They screamed as they fell before the next group beside them met the same fate. Two groups of blaster wielding guards were left but they had to wait as the mass of armed opponents reached her. She used the Force to fling several of them away from one side of her before meeting the rush of the rest.

Talo’Ra revelled in the battle, her blood singing of death and destruction as she rained the same down upon her enemies. One by one they fell before her as she used all of her combat prowess from the temple and the academy as she flowed from one form into another. Suffering cuts and bruises from various assaults she carried on in a frenzy of battle. The last one close to her was a Twi’lek mercenary. She performed a Jung Su Ma and caught his blade on the back end of the spin. As she knocked his blade wide she swung her left arm behind her before lifting it up in front of her in an underhand blow, charging her palm with lightning and sending it blasting up into the surprised female's middle. It doubled her over before sending her flying backwards 5 paces. Weakened from blood loss Talo’Ra paused after this final blow to take stock of the situation. It was a mistake and she paid for it immediately. She had forgotten about the other groups of guards shooting heedlessly into the group of combatants. She was hit by a glancing blow across her ribs and a solid strike on her right leg and left arm. She screamed in pain as the hits came in before she ducked behind a pair of Gammorean bodies piled on each other. She picked up a blaster from one of the bodies in her uninjured hand to begin firing back but she had little skill with it. All she could do was lay down as thick a cover fire as she could by pulling the trigger as fast as she could. After a moment she popped up in a crouch dropping the weapon and sending another torrent of lightning at the group on her right. They started screaming and smoking as the last group two guards in the area watched in horror. As one they broke away and started running away from whatever it was that just caused so much death.

The Human girl watched them run as she finished the other two off and was thankful. She would have liked to kill them as well but she was running out of juice. She could feel the fatigue of what had taken place over the surprisingly short period of time. Slumping onto the bodies, she called on the last of her strength to perform a Curato Salva on herself to close the worst of the wounds. Then fumbling in her waistline she found that she still had the stimulant and hypo, but had lost the Kolto. Cursing the luck she injected the stimulant to give her a few more minutes before she needed to stop. She lurched over to the mercenary's body and searched her as she was the most likely to have a med kit on her. The hypo and some of the vials had been smashed during the skirmish but two vials of Kolto miraculously were still intact. Grabbing the first one she injected it around the wound in her leg to make sure it healed the fastest, she still needed to run after all. The second she jammed into the hypo she had but held onto it to let the first do what it could. Pausing a moment to pick up the fallen Twi’lek’s vibrosword, she half ran – half dragged herself through the doorway to the waiting ships beyond where beings of all types still ran and screamed in terror from the disaster following them. Looking quickly left and right, she chose the most likely candidate and went inside it. The small crew manning the ship were quickly dispatched with savage thrusts and cuts in the enclosed space. Her grisly work done, she quickly raised the ramp and sat at the controls. The ship had already been prepped by the now deceased crew so it was a simple matter of lifting off, turning the ship and flying out through the dock entrance. So little time had passed that no one had thought to activate the shield on the docks so her new ship was unmolested as it left the port.

Letting out a huge sigh of relief, the apprentice sat back in the pilot seat. She felt the wave of exhaustion flow over her as the adrenaline rush and stimulants wore off. Producing the hypo with its payload inserted, she injected that into her left arm to finish healing that up and work on the still oozing cuts on her body. She could fix them in a minute if she had the strength, but for now she didn’t. She set course for Nar Shadaa, though only to orbit the moon for a while as she recovered. Searching the ship she found more medical supplies and injected more Kolto into her system before falling onto a rancid bed in the crew’s small quarters. The ship continued its directive and orbited the moon for four hours before she woke up. She was a little stiff, and a little shaky, but otherwise she felt fine. Finding the food stores she ate until she was full and could feel her energy coming back. She laid back down and fell asleep again for another three hours before waking up and feeling worse for wear, but she had had worse in the Legion battles. Now that she was mostly back in shape she had a debt to settle. Setting a new course she piloted the ship towards Degriro’s hideout. She wasn’t as prepared as she wanted to be but she would not let the matter lie for another moment. Memories of disgusting aliens clutching at her body fueled her anger now that she needed it. The rage filled her again as she let everything out: Her betrayal, her enslavement for a second time and the man responsible for it all.

She piloted the ship recklessly through the city-scape as it came in from orbit. She passed by his hideout twice before finally landing to see if there were any traps that she wasn’t privy to set up. Thinking there weren't, she finally set the ship down with a thud on the landing pad. Picking up her stolen sword she lowered the ramp and exited the ship. Every sight here made her more and more angry. The fury within her caused involuntary sparks to dance along her arms and along the blade she carried. As she approached the door from the landing pad, instead of putting in her security code, she blasted the heavy durasteel door out of its guides on either side and sent it flying inside. She entered with murder on her mind, and now was the time.


	2. 02 Unrequited Rage

Talo’Ra entered Degriro’s hideout on Nar Shaddaa, and looked on in satisfaction as the door slowly fell over from the wall it had recently struck with a resounding crash. She knew the element of surprise was gone, but she didn’t have far to go either. Moving quickly down the stairs and turning left, she saw the reflections of light from the walls from the electricity that crackled down her arms and along the vibrosword she had acquired. Reaching the door to the shrine, she turned loose another massive wave of the Force with her left hand at the heavy glass doors, shattering them into a million pieces. The shards of glass burst into the room and they are accompanied by lightning being channeled down the blade in her right hand. Surprise doesn’t matter when you can’t dodge an attack on the entire room. Stepping forward, she kept a stream of lightning going wide to cover a decent portion of the room. She saw that it was empty. Her boots crunched on the broken glass as she took another three steps inside to look around. She saw scorch marks cover the walls and tables, and one of the datacrons was actually on fire. The fine carpet had been ripped to shreds with the exploding glass and electricity playing along every surface until it had been spent.

Merely grunting as she turned away, glass crunched underfoot again while she left the fire going in the room, hoping it would burn the place down. Room by room she searched until the entire place had been gone over, random furniture or decorations thrown by the force in a sign of disrespect. As she searched, the various servants and even the guards went running from her as they recognized a Sith in a rage. She ended her search in his showroom where he had all his various vehicles. She reached the conclusion that he wasn’t there and her anger flared again. She picked up one of the vehicles there with the Force and proceeded to smash it several times into another one. She repeated this process with another pair of unfortunate vehicles before gaining control of herself once again.

Leaving the wreckage where it was she left the room and wandered back up to her new ship. She entered it and threw her sword aside in disgust when she reached the bridge. Before she sat down, however, she smelled the ripening bodies of the former crew and knew that wouldn’t do. The apprentice picked them up two at a time and threw them out on the landing pad to stink and rot there as a final insult to her master. Before she left the dock she activated an environmental system that flushed all the air out of the ship and replaced it with fresh so that the smell wasn’t so bad. She returned to the bridge and buttoned up the ship while setting course back to Korriban.

As the ship's thrusters did their work lifting the ship she saw the corpses skid and roll around on the landing pad, leaving wide swaths of blood in their passing. She didn’t bother trying to keep the malicious glee she felt off her face at this sign of disrespect. She had actually looked up to the man before he betrayed her. If he hadn’t thought her worthy of continuing on, that is one thing. Actively betraying her and selling her into slavery. AGAIN! That was a step she would never forgive him for. She may never be a Sith now, but she would have her revenge when she stood over his dead and cooling body.

These angry thoughts consumed her as she broke out of the gravitational pull of Nar Shadaa and transitioned to hyperspace. Normally she would have rested at this time as any seasoned soldier does when there is a lull in the fighting. This time, however, she was seething with hatred and it was difficult to even meditate. By the time the alarm went off letting her know it was time for reversion back to normal space, she had managed to calm herself somewhat. She felt reasonably confident that she wouldn’t get herself killed by the guards or the Sith themselves by exploding in violence again. After all, her grievance was with one Sith alone, and his fate was already sealed. No, it wouldn’t do to lose her mind and be cut down by one of the others who had nothing to do with this feud. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill her any more than she would if she were confronted by the hated Degriro. Prudence. Keeping an outward calm would be her guise until the time was right.

The defensive screen around the planet was tight as ever, however, it was a simple matter of entering her personalized key code to get through it. Any of the massive trading or cargo vessels would be stopped for a routine inspection to make sure nothing exceedingly dangerous got in. The spice trade on Korriban was on a small scale and the Dark Council kept it in check with a vicious squad of thugs. They made sure that only the most expendable were able to obtain any as long as the council received their cut of the profits. Further up the chain, it was strictly forbidden with a penalty of swift and painful death. Unless they didn’t like you, then it was a slow and painful death.

Upon landing on Korriban, she exited the ship and quietly made her way back to her quarters. Other apprentices who knew her were stunned at her appearance. A dancer’s outfit exposing most of her body would have been quite appealing with her athletic tone, if she had not been splattered in blood from head to toe. Greetings died on their collective lips as they saw her stalk by them with her new vibrosword clenched in hand. Talo’Ra entered her quarters and put the sword down on the weapons rack before stripping off the costume and walking into the bathing room. Forgoing her normal shower, she drew a near scalding hot bath in the small but functional tub. She scrubbed the blood away and refilled the bath several times before finally emerging a raw and wholly different person. Never again would she be the somewhat trusting creature that she was. She had been shown what it truly meant to be a Sith, and that meant treachery.

She got dressed in her own nightclothes for the first time in over a month before crawling, exhausted into her own bed. The woman looked around at her familiar room and felt a little more secure now that she was back somewhere she knew well. She looked over to the weapon rack and saw her newly acquired blade, covered in dried blood. She would have to clean and maintain the weapon in the morning. It was a well-made blade and must have cost that mercenary dearly in credits to have such a one crafted. It had served the apprentice well in the short time she had owned it. It was now her primary weapon until she was able to construct a new lightsaber. She had forged a new crystal prior to this ordeal, though it was probably the prize of some collector, along with her first saber. Now she would have to create a new one with the masters in the Crystal Forge. That is of course if they let her. These thoughts in her head she dropped off into a deep slumber.

She awoke more than twelve hours later and stretched her way to consciousness. As things came into focus she was only mildly surprised to realize that she was in her own room before memory informed her of the 48 hours before arriving back at the academy. Rolling out of bed she went through her morning routine of grooming and dressing. When she was ready to leave her room and have breakfast, she looked at the time and saw that it was nearly midafternoon. She knew that she had been exhausted after all the fighting and use of the Force the days before, but not that it had affected her so deeply. As it was, she felt like she could go back to bed and stay there for the night. Putting these thoughts out of her head, she picked up her new weapon and remembered that it needed a good cleaning.

The young woman picked up a towel for this occasion and wetted it to soften up and wash away the dried blood. Drying it with the other half of that same cloth she decided that the rest of the maintenance would wait until she had a meal in her. With that thought, she sought a new sheath for it. One didn’t live long with a naked blade in the open, and she would go nowhere unarmed. The sword itself was of a standard length and width, so finding a new sheath for it was a simple task. All the weapons racks in the academy were supplied with a small array of basic firearms and bladed weapons.

Her training sword stood with the other equipment, having been discarded after she had constructed her lightsaber. Now its sheath would be of use again with the superior new sword. She sheathed the new weapon on her back and placed the training one back in its place with more reverence than she had before. She ruminated on the thought of how these tools had helped her survive, grow more powerful, and should be treated with respect. She understood a little more about her master just then as she recalled his vast collection of arms from across the galaxy. She still hated him; however this realization was tucked away in her mind.

Turning away she strolled out to the academy at large where she made her way to the cantina. Ordering a stiff drink and her favorite meal she sat with her back against a wall so she could observe all who were near. As the server brought her food and drink over, she caught sight of the closest thing she had to a friend here that wasn’t a competing apprentice. Lord Kuriren sauntered in with her usual mocking grin, her skin almost glowing in the light due to how pale it was.

The lord noticed the apprentice, giving her a curt wave of the hand in greeting and was surprised to see her alive. When Talo’Ra had disappeared without a trace for weeks on end, the assumption was that she had met her end one way or another. Kuriren had lifted a glass of brandy to herself in honor of the dead apprentice that she had gotten on with, but wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. Now, here she was, alive and well. Clearly there was a tale behind it and she would hear it if possible.

The lord approached the table and waved the apprentice back to her seat, when they were alone they dispensed with the protocols of rank. The two were reunited in a friendly, congenial manner that the yellow-eyed apprentice did not think she would be able to muster again so soon after the escape. It brought the Cathar, Ryla Varren to mind for the first time since she put her plan into action. She fervently hoped that the female had escaped in the confusion. Talo’Ra had caused a world of chaos in the Pleasure Dome that day. It was a world of blood and death: One that had taken everyone’s attention away from the boring security detail that the guards normally dealt with. She hoped it was enough and that soon she’d be hearing from the female that had helped her so many times.

The two women toasted the reunion with their glasses of brandy before digging into the meal. They proceeded to catch up on the happenings of the other. Kuriren spoke of her latest discoveries in the Mind’s Eye and its implications on the understanding of Sith history. Talo’Ra listened with great interest as the other expounded on her latest findings and asked questions about various points. When asked about her own adventures, Talo’Ra’s face became hard as she related the happenings of the last month and change. The meeting, capture, torture, and dreams followed by intense training, then the bloody battle to leave. Kuriren’s expression barely changed during the explanation and only perked up slightly at the description of the battle, commenting about the exciting nature of it. She now knew what had happened and was indifferent to the ordeal that an apprentice went through on their road to becoming worthy.

As the afternoon turned into evening, they had another meal and more drinks while discussing other matters. The good food and company combined with the alcohol brought Talo’Ra’s fatigue to the fore. Excusing herself at length, she made her way somewhat unsteadily to her quarters, making sure to lock her door and then bar it. She was tipsy, not stupid. She decided to call it a night early and enjoy the slight intoxication while reading on her datapad.

The next day dawned and she rose with a feeling of being fully rested for the first time in weeks. That much use of the Force and physical exertion drained her more than she thought was possible, even after being in some tense battles with the Legion. Perhaps it was being wound up so tightly emotionally as well that led to the bone weariness she felt over the last two days. It was something to think about while she performed maintenance on her new vibrosword.

She also made plans to seek out some of the instructors to make a new lightsaber to replace the one that she had lost. Following the maintenance, the blade hummed to life and she performed a few slow and controlled swings with it to get a feel for its balance. During the combat of her escape, she hadn’t had time to think about such things, only survival. The rooms were not big enough for her to walk through a whole blade form so she made do with a stationary version. Satisfied, she showered and then continued with her morning routine.

The apprentice left her quarters and headed to the crystal forge, where she found an instructor to guide her in producing a new one. It took some time but she was able to create a crystal that was far superior to the one she had made for her first lightsaber. She popped that crystal into her pocket and went to have lunch as forging a crystal is tiring work. While she was eating, her communicator lit up and beeped to let her know a message had just arrived.

It seemed that Darth Sinasi had heard of her return already and was keen to make use of her healing skills. The message read: “Apprentice, I require your services. Your ordeal is not unknown to me and, as a reward for your surviving, I will allow you to finish your meal before attending to me. You will meet me by the river next to the parade grounds as soon as possible. Do not make me wait long.”

Her heart leapedleapt in equal measures of fear and anticipation at the summons. How had he known she was eating when he sent the message? The answer, of course, was that he had eyes and ears everywhere, like all of the truly powerful did. Here, in the galactic capital of scheming, spy networks were common. Even the spy networks had spy networks inside them. It was a good reminder that she needed to closely guard her actions and words. The halls of power were not to be trodden lightly.

The summons itself was exactly surprising. She had been gaining notoriety for her skills in the medical field. She even rivaled the great skill of the apprentice Ganlaan, though he’d now had an extra several weeks of training in her absence. Would she be able to make up the gap now? It was unlikely as he had already outstripped her in their classes. It didn’t matter though, as long as he stayed out of her way while she clawed her way to power. Besides, she told herself, he had only bested her with a sword once in the dozens of duels they’d had. That was his weakness if it came down to it.

Shaking her head to clear out the thoughts of competitors, she quickly gulped down the rest of her food and polished off the drink. She left the cantina at a brisk pace and managed to catch a ride on a transport that circled the academy all day. These enabled the students to cover the long distances between facilities in a timely manner. The ride was just long enough for her food to settle before she was dropped at the parade grounds. She hustled across them to the appointed meeting spot.  
The Darth was an imposing figure. He was very tall for a Pure Blood Sith, taller than her master. He was much more lithe than her master though, and was well known for his nasty temper. It did not pay to make the Pure Blood angry. She made her obeisance to the Darth with a quick “My lord, I have come as you required.”

His red eyes studied her as she stood in front of him. She seemed more dangerous than she had the last time he had seen her. He sensed her newfound strength in the Force. All to the good; a Sith could not afford weakness. The vibrosword was something of a surprise as she had used a lightsaber on their last three missions together with the Legion. A mystery. “Apprentice Talo’Ra. Your exploits are the talk of the academy. I trust you suffered no long term ill effects?”

This caught her by surprise. “My lord, how did you find out so quickly?”

He chuckled darkly as his eyes narrowed. “Did you think that a slaughter such as the one you caused with an ally of ours would go unnoticed? Even the Dark Council has discussed it in passing.” She paled at the word ‘ally’ and he chuckled again, savoring her discomfort. “Be at ease apprentice. The council recognizes that you did what you had to do to escape and survive. The fear you inspired that day has already paid dividends for us. The Hutt’s were growing arrogant in our dealings and had to be taught a lesson.” He paused a moment to let that sink in. “Oh, we knew what was to happen to you. The council approved. They foresaw that you would escape in a spectacular fashion!” He watched her face redden and a vein in her forehead throb as her anger sprang forth again.

“Ahhh. I can feel your rage; your hatred is boiling inside of you. Good. Good. Embrace it, and let it fuel your power.” He observed her struggle to keep control, curious as to which would win. Her will won out and he was pleased to see that she was able to do so. Unbridled fury had its place on the battlefield, but not where cold calculations for revenge would serve better. “Now let us discuss your purpose here today. I have an unruly apprentice that I need to, chastise. During this discussion, he is likely to require your services as a healer. You will not interfere, but you will remain nearby for when you are needed.” He knew her skill and trusted it after so many times on the battlefield. She would do her job, and do it well.

She nodded her understanding and said, “Yes, my lord.” She bowed to him again and wandered off a short way. Mere minutes later apprentice Vel’hern appeared and quickly made his way to the Darth where he bowed low. She was able to make out the words ‘master’ and ‘apprentice’ in the exchange but did not hear the rest of it. Sinasi started speaking in a low rumble that she could not understand, nor did she try.

Vel’hern suddenly spoke up in a loud voice “Master, it was a difficult situation. I did the best I-” the rest was cut off as a brutal backhanded blow sent the apprentice back in a desperate shuffle to keep his feet. Sinasi reached out with the Force and pulled the apprentice close again where his face was introduced to a large red-skinned fist, breaking his nose. The apprentice fell to the ground with blood pouring out of the broken nose and lacerated cheekbone.

The Darth advanced on the student and grabbed him by the throat. He barked “Failure was not an option you witless fool! Now you pay the price.” The giant Pure Blood dragged the apprentice over the riverbank and plunged the younger man’s head underwater. The apprentice struggled and splashed to try and get away, but to no avail. An uncomfortable time later, Sinasi pulled the apprentice free of the water and watched him sputter. “What have you got to say for yourself?” Vel’hern took a ragged breath to form his answer when he was thrust back under the water.

This time, the apprentice sought to use the Force to his advantage and held his breath. The Force slowed his heart rate, greatly reduced his need for oxygen, and sustained him during this time. He hadn’t practiced this skill much, but terror was a great motivator. A few minutes later the Darth pulled him free again and let him gasp in some air. “See apprentice? Your desperation has caused you to do something right for a change. Let’s see how long you can hold out.”

Vel’hern caught sight of Talo’Ra and begged for her intervention with a look before Sinasi took three long steps into the flowing water and dunked the unfortunate apprentice again. This time he was being held on the bottom of the river with the Darth’s boot on his chest, trying to grind out the air he held.

Talo’Ra walked closer and gave the Sith Lord a warning about his actions. In a disinterested tone she said “My lord, beware you do not burst his lungs. That will take considerably longer to heal if he survives.” While she was saying this she sat down with her back to a stone where she could observe and still read her datapad. She had accessed a new set of texts where she studied more biology. The more she knew of various species, the better she could help put them back together.

She became engrossed in her studies and paid little attention to the thrashings in the water. Eventually the Darth summoned her. “Apprentice Talo’Ra.” The lack of response caused him to bark “Talo! Come on. We need you now.”

Irritated, she closed her datapad and set to work assessing, then healing the broken apprentice.


	3. Murder in the First

Talo’Ra retired to her room that night with a real feeling of tired accomplishment. She had taken the first step in constructing her new lightsaber, and the lord Sinasi was pleased with her work. He had even commented on her growth in both power and skill, which was unusual for the Pure Blood. Usually, it was never good enough and resulted in punishment. It could be physically choking, choking with the Force, or shocked by lightning as an impetus to improve or else.  
Now, she wondered, would she have a potential ally in the Darth? He wasn’t on the Council but he was privy to their meetings since he was the head of Dark Champions who guarded them. Each Council member had two Champions whose sole job was to protect them from any danger or die trying. It was a prestigious position that often led to advancements in either rank or respect which was almost as good. And now their leader is seeing her value. Cautious optimism was called for. It could just as easily be an elaborate trap for an apprentice to fall into, only to be slapped down into their place. Prudence, she thought again.

The next day dawned and she checked her schedule to see if she had been re-added to the class rosters yet, or if she still had a day to herself. Seeing that her schedule was clear she headed out of her room with a plan for the day. She would seek out Darth Freen in the med bays to ask for more advanced materials to study and ask for guidance on specializations. That would probably take most of the morning since Freen was quite insane, but a gifted healer and administrator of torture. Knowledge of biology could be used in either instance.

Her highest priority should be constructing her new lightsaber. Unfortunately the master craftsman, Lord Zeelu was rarely available in the mornings since she preferred to stay up late at night. This meant she had to wait until the afternoon for her chance to find the lord. She doubted she could get her out of bed early with high-grade explosives. Not to mention the danger of doing so. The lord was not Order’s weapons master, but it’s possible she could be if she challenged Degriro for the position. It would be an extremely close competition and the apprentice wouldn’t want to bet on the razor-thin margin between them.

The visit to the med bay went roughly as she thought. In order to get anything useful out of Freen, one had to subject themselves to constant rambling on subjects that rarely had a direct bearing on the conversation at hand. It took a keen mind to filter out what was relevant and what wasn’t. Most thought the Darth to be completely useless as a teacher, but Talo’Ra had discovered, as had apprentice Ganlaan, that the crackpot was a treasure trove of knowledge once you learned the filter.

The apprentice had just sat down to lunch with the Lord Kuriren again when her communicator lit up with another message. This time it was from Degriro. He had evidently seen her handiwork at his hideout and was displeased. The message read “Apprentice Talo’Ra. My hideout. The one without a door.” She chuckled evilly at this before showing the message to Kuriren.

“Without a door? What does that mean? I have been to his compound. All of the doors are guarded and reinforced” the lord said.

Getting a refill of her drink she informed Kuriren about the ‘remodeling’ she did in this hideout. They both laughed and ate as if they had all the time in the galaxy. They found that it had been more than an hour since the message had been received. The pair of them rose and parted ways before Talo’Ra finally left, making no hurry to arrive in a timely manner.

She boarded her new ship and was reminded that she hadn’t gotten it cleaned up as the bloodstains were still all over the walls and floors. The course was set and she settled into the surprisingly comfortable pilot’s chair for a nap as she would need to be sharp and rested for this confrontation. The young woman landed the ship, exited it, and entered the compound through the wide-open security door. The remnants of the door were still there along with the impression they made in the permacrete walls, though the various debris had been cleaned up.

Turning to the left as normal she walked nonchalantly down the hallway to the shrine room. The heavy framework of the door opened as normal, though only remnants of shattered opaque glass were still in place around the edges. A majority of the glass had been swept away by the servants, but it was clearly a work in progress as glass crunched under her boots while entering the room. Seeing her master in his customary spot at the back of the room facing her, she stopped on the other side of what was once an expensive rug. He was wearing different armor and a new mask than he normally wore, no doubt because of the rumor she had heard. Giving the absolute minimum bow that could be tolerated when greeting a superior she commented “Looks like you had some vandalism here master.” She shook her head and made a series of tongue click noises, knowing this along with her tardiness was going to aggravate him even more.

The imposing figure then stepped forward menacingly while saying “The door is of no concern.” He stopped right in front of the much smaller woman and peered down at her, looking directly into her eyes. “Have you put your past fears behind you now of being enslaved again?” His hulking form towered over the apprentice being that he was a full foot taller than her and three times as wide. He seemed made of nothing but bulging muscles earned from many years of hard work with his weapons mastery. Other than coming close to intimidate her, he showed no outward signs of anger at what he knew she had done to his hideaway. This he rarely did except in their practice duels. The difference was that this time he did not scare her in the slightest, on the contrary she was angered at the sight of him but kept it tightly under control. He noted her defiant stare barely masked by her normally unreadable face. He also observed the way she had entered the room with a vibrosword on her back at an angle designed for quick draw, and how it seemed to be a part of her. If he hadn’t been so angry with her, he would have been pleased to see the growth of his apprentice. Though recent events were blunting his anger with the good cheer he felt at the moment.

Talo’Ra’s reply was simple and sarcastic, in a tone of voice meant to provoke anger. “Indeed I have.”

Degriro’s eyes narrowed behind his mask as she continued to mock him, but he held himself in check as well, not willing to be lured into a fight with her. Instead, he spoke of the trial she had been sent on. “You returning to my hideout is proof that you have succeeded. Your second trial, the Trial of Insight: Passed. Being able to put aside your fear and overcome the odds is part of becoming a powerful Sith. For that, I shall return your lightsaber to you.” Pausing only a moment to loom over her a moment longer to see if she gave any reaction to his words. Seeing none he walked back to his altar to pick up the apprentice’s weapon. Turning back to face her when the expected attack on his exposed back did not happen, he said “You will need this for your next trial. That is, if you feel that you are ready. The muscular man walked the length of the ruined carpet again to the sound of broken glass underfoot and stopped in front of his apprentice again.

As he extended his right arm, holding her weapon in his palm to return it to its rightful owner, he said “This weapon needs to bathe in blood.” The apprentice looked down her nose at the proffered weapon and considered it for a moment, never expecting to see it again, before reclaiming it and relishing the feel of it in her hands again. She clipped it to her belt in a familiar fashion while the lord continued speaking to her and eyes went back to him. “Are you ready to start your third trial?”

She looked directly into his new mask’s eye slit with her normal stone-faced expression only marred by a hint of the anger she felt internally. Mockingly she replied “Why yes…. ‘Master’. I AM ready for another trial.” The sarcasm and intended insult washed over him with little effect as he could sense the rage in her. “What do you mean it needs to bathe in blood? You have seen me strike down many enemies of the Empire with this while we were out with the Legion. It has proven its worth as a weapon.”

“You’re right. That weapon has proven itself. You still have yet to.” She bristled at the comment, yet kept her cool, knowing the time was not yet right. When she did not reply to him, he continued “You are to go back to the temple of worship that you were raised in.” He looked down at the lightsaber on her waist and continued “That weapon will kill Yarnous, the man you used to look up to as a father.” He returned his gaze back to her face to see if there was any reaction in the young woman. “You told me that you cherished your freedom. Strike him down to be freed from your past.”

The apprentice narrowed her yellow eyes slightly as her expression grew even harder. A moment passed before she asked “Yarnous? What does he have to do with anything? I left my past long behind me.”

Degriro once again tilted his head to peer directly into the eyes of his apprentice. “I don’t believe you quite understand what a Trial of Sacrifice means. I said to kill him. That is all you need to know.”

Without missing a beat she fired back at him “On the contrary. I think I DO need to know more if I am to do what you want.”

“You do not need to know anything more than to kill the man I named. You already know where you came from and who he is.”

Talo’Ra dropped all pretenses at keeping the purposefully stoic expression she normally had. Letting all the hatred, disgust and deep-seated fury show on her face, all mixed into a visage of defiance. The mocking tone took on a harder edge as she said “Oh I know it, my ‘master’. I know it well.”

Degriro stood up tall then and pointed to the broken door behind her “Good. Then be gone from my presence and don’t return until you have covered your blade in his blood.”

She stood defiantly for several moments before finally saying “I understand you were made a Darth recently.” At his nod she said with an unenthusiastic and sarcastic tone “Congratulations.” Then she asked, “What name did you choose?”

Degriro had been given the highest honor in the order, the title of Darth along with all its implied power and respect due to the station. He had been recognized for his tireless efforts on behalf of the Empire, the terror he inspired in his enemies, and his faithful service to the Dark Council. The ceremony had been held in secret with few in attendance, but he felt an enormous amount of pride at the words spoken and the honors bestowed. He replied to her query with a simple answer, “Darth Wyckedd.”

She nodded at him in acknowledgment before saying “Darth Wyckedd. That’s, certainly a name. I guess.”

“You have your trial, I would suggest you getting started on it,” he said, turning away from her and walking back to the altar of the wrecked room.

The apprentice watched him go while keeping a tight control on her anger. Without bowing she turned to go while still keeping an eye on him saying “Yes, ‘Master’.” She walked quickly down the hallway back to the landing pad and into her ship. She raised the ramp before stopping to lean against a wall and let her task sink in. Yarnous. A man she hadn’t thought of in well over a year though he had been dear to her once. Now she was to kill him. She went to the cockpit of the ship and took off back to Korriban to think about her next move.

___________

Days passed as she agonized over the decision of what to do. During this time she crafted a lightsaber superior to her previous one in every way. The crystal was more refined and the hilt itself was made without defect, unlike her first effort. After several exhaustive training sessions in honing her skills, she couldn’t avoid it any longer and made preparations to visit her homeworld.

Packing lightly she only took some extra food, both of her sabers, and doubled her normal medical satchel loadout. She’d given orders to have her ship cleaned out and the beds replaced with ones that weren’t filthy. She had discovered a captain's quarters that she had missed previously in the excitement of her previous trips on it. This room she had completely redone and a bigger bed installed. She stocked the stores of food, medical supplies, and extra weapons.

Taking one last look at the supplies she had gathered she took her leave of the academy and put in coordinates to her homeworld. It was a long flight, made longer by her dread of arriving and moving forward. The landing was uneventful as she touched down a few miles from the temple at night and waited to see if there was any curiosity directed at the somewhat unusual sight. Several hours later she decided that no one had taken notice. She gathered her supplies and had simple garb so that she would blend in with the local denizens. 

She laid down in her bed for a time to get a short rest in before leaving and contemplated her decision. She had learned that the only way to exist as a Sith was to have no weaknesses. This man that she held so dear and the temple she grew up in, was a weakness she could no longer afford to have. She had been betrayed once and enslaved again. It would be the last time anyone would have control over her in any way and he was the key to making that happen. There was no way to avoid it; her master would ensure that he was a tool for her destruction otherwise.

With a heavy heart, yet a firm resolve she exited the ship and locked it with the new codes she had entered. She walked into the forest that surrounded the temple and quickly got her bearings, finding the closest path and marking the location of the ship in her mind. Moving at a steady but trail-eating pace, she made her way to the temple.

As she got closer, there were places that she couldn’t resist seeing again; Special hideaways that she had found in growing up and now visited for one last time to burn the imprints of each into her brain. She reached the temple by the early afternoon and her eyes took it all in. The simple buildings, fields being tended by farmers, and a clearing dedicated to training. A group of students were busily running through the forms, led by one of the masters. She was greeted by a couple of the younger students who were done with their training for the day and were off to meditation.

Entering the grounds of the temple, she made her way to Master Yarnous’ quarters to see if he might be there for his afternoon meditation. Everyone knew it was actually a nap at his advancing age, but no one did anything but smile at the fact. Out of respect for him, she knocked on his door gently instead of barging in to take care of the business she had with him. It was a short time later when the door opened and she saw his face again.

For the first time, she noticed the age lines, gray hair, and general haggard look of an old man. She always remembered him as a young and vigorous man, but now that she thought of it, it was the remembrances of a small child who refuses to see the truth as time goes by. What she saw now was a man past his prime, still active but not the powerhouse of physical might that he used to have. He saw her, blinked a few times before recognition dawned on his features, and cried out in joy as he threw his arms around her. Involuntarily she embraced him back and felt tears running down her face as she felt his warmth again. It felt good like all would be right in the galaxy and it was suddenly millions of times harder to accomplish her goal.

Pulling back from her he smiled at her warmly and he said “My girl, I never thought I’d see you again. Come in and speak to an old man. Tell me what you’ve been up to these last years.” He sat her down and put a kettle on to make some tea. As she sat, she found herself opening up to this man. She couldn’t seem to stop herself. She told him everything: Enslavement, freedom, the Sith, the academy, and her training. She told of her betrayal, being enslaved again and then of her escape. She glossed over the bloodshed she had caused, but she knew he would figure it out. He was not a fool, no matter what he portrayed. She spoke for hours and only the tea kept her throat from going dry or hoarse.

The look on Yarnous’ face changed over the course of the tale. It went from the warm and welcoming face she had always known to one that was hard and horrified. He stopped her midway through the destruction of her master’s base of operations. Rebuking her for these actions he said “When did you become a murderer? When did I ever teach you that it was justifiable to ever take a life?”

She shot back “Even in defense of one’s self? In gaining the freedom of others? In stopping filthy slavers Hutts?!” They were getting heated now. They wrangled back and forth about the morality of the situations she had lived through. He stood his ground with the thought that all life is sacred, regardless of how evil they are. She knew that arguing with him was futile as he was steadfast in his ways, but she tried making her case anyways.

Eventually, Yarnous raised his voice and said “Enough! I have heard all I will stand from you. You clearly never listened to a word I said!” he continued more softly “You have always been arrogant and headstrong. I was foolish enough to think that you might change even after your arrest. That you would see the error of your ways once you knew the real consequences. But, I was wrong. You will leave this place and never return. You have no place here and I will not have you poisoning the minds of our young with your foul ideas. Now go!”

Gazing at the frail master, his face set in anger, this man she had loved. She now found her task to be simple. He had tried to shame her with his morality when she knew that the Sith way was the correct one: Might makes right. She had the strength and the power to make her own rules. Her face drained of all expression and the stone-hard visage she showed everyone else was in evidence now. It gave the master chills down his spine as he felt the icy malevolence flow out of her.

“Very well Master Yarnous. I only have one task left here anyway. Thank you for making this easy.” Quick as lightning she drew her original saber, ignited it and stabbed him through the heart. The surprise on his face lasted only a moment before the light went out in his eyes. She pulled the blade free, disengaged it, and put it back on her belt. Looking at the body of this man for a moment, Talo’Ra took her final sip of the delicious tea he had always made.

Regret at her actions assailed her almost immediately as she had truly loved him. He was the only father she had ever known and now he was gone. He had been killed by her own hand. Bitter tears ran down her face and her inner turmoil turned into rage. Only a small part of her mind wasn’t on fire with the burning fury she felt, and it was shocking. She thought she had been angry before, that was nothing compared to this.

She had been made to kill this dear old man, the father she never had. She had been betrayed and enslaved for a second time. She had been tortured, used, and suffered the worst abuses imaginable in that enslavement: And it all came down to one man. Degriro had caused all of this, and now, he must die.

She was surprised at how still she had suddenly become. It was definitely the calm before the storm. Her determination was as hard as durasteel and deceptively quiet. She was laser on the only task that mattered to her anymore: Killing her master. Nothing less would satisfy her blood lust. For now, though, she would depart this place.

She picked up the small bag she had brought with her, a little lighter than it had been as they had both eaten of the supplies in it, and slung it over her shoulder. Turning away for the final time she raised her hood and left his room, walking away from the temple that now meant nothing to her. The apprentice had thought about the possibility of having to lay waste to the whole place to escape the wrath of temple masters. Now she knew there was no point in it. No one knew what she had done yet, and it would gain her nothing. She walked the lonely way to her ship over the next couple of hours, entered the code for it, and boarded. Once in orbit, she set the autopilot for Korriban after taking off then retired to her new ship’s quarters.


	4. The Reckoning

Talo’Ra lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of the captain’s quarters with blank yellow eyes. Emotions warred within her about what had happened just hours before. Elation, misery, hatred, and anger all battled it out in her heart. She knew which ones would win out eventually, but misery gave all of them a run for their money.

The act itself was nothing new to her. She had killed before and would again. With gusto. Fighting on the battlefield or executing prisoners of war was one thing. However, this one had been different. It had been personal. This life had meant something to her, and she snuffed it out. She knew that eventually, she would forget about it as just another step in her climb to power, but for now, she wanted to feel her remorse.

She waited until the darkest of night at the Academy of Korriban to land. Even in the middle of the night, the valley of Sith tombs was well lit. Droids worked to clear a path to what scholars suspected would be a new tomb entrance lost to time. Above that, monstrous turbo laser cannons and smaller turrets were mounted to defend against all comers.

She flew her ship in a wide loop around the site where so much knowledge was jealously hidden by past masters, waiting to be rediscovered. After landing in her designated spot, she left the ship open. This way the ground crew that was always on standby could do their job of refueling and performing maintenance. There was little danger of one of them committing sabotage, their lives and those of their families would be forfeit if they did.

Keeping to what shadows she could find she went back to her quarters. Once there the apprentice sent a message to her master. With no preamble, or honorifics befitting his station, she simply wrote ‘It is done’ and hit the send button. She grinned slightly at the disrespect she showed him at every turn now. It would continue to be a great sport until he died at her hands.

When she awoke in the morning, she was only slightly surprised to see no messages from her master. He was known to disappear for days or weeks on end in service of the Dark Council. Perhaps this was one of those times. In the meantime, she would put this freedom to good use. Combat training sessions would be the order of the day if she were going to stand toe to toe with the Blade Master of the Order. No small task.

Days passed as she put herself through a grueling training regimen. Acolytes looking to prove themselves took her up on the offer to duel them in the Arena. Lords and Darths often attended the Arena for the spectacle of a fight and the opportunity to find a suitable apprentice. They observed the activities in the stone ring or chatted among themselves about whatever occupied them.

Every so often one would take an acolyte aside and interview them. This would serve to assess both their wits and potential power with the Force. Those who made the grade were taken as an apprentice. The rest were left to try and impress, or be thrown out eventually, for being a failure.

Talo’Ra often fought with her peers, the apprentices Ruqua, Ganlaan, and Ukodi. Ruqua was a Cathar and also Degriro’s apprentice. Her feline grace and reflexes made her a fierce fighter. She was handpicked by the Blade Master to be his successor to that position. She did not disappoint with her dual blade style. It was easy to lose track of where the second blade was when dealing with whichever she chose to attack with first. Lightning-fast attacks, supported by Force abilities, made her all but impossible for other apprentices to deal with.

Ukodi was another matter. He favored stealth and surprise attacks. It was not uncommon for him to use a cloaking device to disappear at the start of a duel. He was crafty and was learning the trade of the assassins quickly. Mind tricks, misdirection, and poison were favorites of the assassins, but he was no slouch in sword fighting either.

Ganlaan, when he could be pried out of the med-bay, was an altogether different animal. His blade skills were passable, but where he excelled was in using the Force. He was quickly gaining mastery of high-level abilities and highly intricate uses of the Force. One time he reached out with the Force and turned off her lightsaber, mid duel. It was the only time he had beaten Talo’Ra with a blade. Every other loss to him was from his use of lightning, chokes, and Force waves.

The message she had been expecting finally came eight days after her return. She had just finished eking out a victory over Ruqua with a surprise lightning attack and was checking her communicator. She froze when she recognized his encoding. At last, it was time. Apologizing to the Lords in attendance for leaving early, she explained her summons and bowed.

Rushing away from the arena, she went to her room to clean up and prepare. She emerged in loose-fitting clothing and soft but sturdy boots that allowed for maximum movement and flexibility. She had a task to fulfill and nothing would get in her way of achieving it. Buckled on her waist were both of her lightsabers and ever-present medical satchel.

She took her meal on the ship she now owned once it was in space and on its way to Nar Shadaa. The rest of the time she attempted to get some sleep to be as fresh and rested as she could. During this downtime, it occurred to her to wonder why it had taken so long for this meeting to be called.

Was he hoping she would cool down with time and not kill him? That was almost certainly not it. He knew his skills were formidable and therefore would never back down from a fight. If he was smart, he would fear her, but she knew he didn’t. He was severely underrating her since she had returned from slavery. That would be his undoing. She hoped anyway. The young woman ruthlessly tried to stamp out any doubt in her mind that she would be able to defeat her master.

Doubt still managed to wriggle its way into her mind as she thought of his storied skills. This continued until the ship came within sight of the spire where his hideout was housed. A fire lit in her brain and it burned away all doubt, all fear. Fiery rage filled her mind and she wouldn’t be surprised if smoke were coming out of her ears.

The heavy door on the landing pad had been replaced and seemed to have been reinforced. Amid the brain-melting anger she was pleased that she had cost him dearly for repairs. She stalked into the compound, itching for a fight, and expecting an ambush at every step. She was straining her senses through the Force to find where the traps were, trying to glean enough forewarning to react and possibly save her life.

Her arrival in the meditation chamber with him standing there as usual and with no signs of anything out of the ordinary was anticlimactic. She had expected wall turrets, goons jumping out, a fortified station. Something. Some kind of acknowledgment of her greatly increased threat level. Not normalcy.

His nonchalant stance as if nothing out of the norm had happened was irritatingly normal. As if he did not consider her a threat at all. For a moment, the psychological trick almost worked on her. She was right on the verge of calming down and reconsidering her chosen course of action. Things clicked into place as she figured out the ruse of false calm and unconcern. Very clever she thought, but it wouldn’t work.

Her focus was crystal clear as she made the barest of bows to her master, never taking her eyes off him. Her yellow eyes made her look as if a Correllian Sand Panther were stalking its prey. The uniform he had chosen as a Darth was blood red, complete with a new helmet and mask that hid his features.

He stood unmoving for almost a full minute before greeting her. Every move designed to give the impression of her insignificance to him. He was uncertain if it would fool his apprentice. He knew of her intelligence, reasoning skills and guile. She seemed remarkably in control of herself considering how she had left his compound after her last trial. Yes, remarkably calm. He almost couldn’t determine her intentions through the Force. She had grown strong indeed.

His voice was slightly muffled as he spoke through the mask he wore. “Apprentice, I received your message where you claim ‘it is done.’ What is done? I require you to be specific.”

Grinding her teeth, she answered, “I have killed Master Yarnous with my lightsaber, as instructed, ‘master.’ This last word she filled with so much venom, it was a marvel that he didn’t fall to the ground convulsing.

“Show me your weapon.”

She produced the actual murder weapon for him to inspect, -at a distance, and kept a tight grip on it. There was exactly zero chance she would let him near enough to it to take it from her. He held a hand out toward it and didn’t make another move. After a moment he lowered his hand and put it behind his back to stand at ‘parade rest’.

When he didn’t react any further, she was almost thrown again. She reminded herself that he was doing his best to put her off. The Force was also tickling the back of her mind. She now knew that if she went berserk at this moment, it would end badly for her. She needed to use her mind as much as her skills if she were to win the day.

She lowered her own hand and clipped the lightsaber back to her belt and waited. Her eyes were wide and unblinking as she waited for her prey to make his move. Five minutes passed as they both waited until he finally said, “So you do know how to exercise self-control. Good. There is hope for you yet. A Sith must know how to employ patience.”

He paused again to see if she had a reply. When she offered none he continued, “I have sent scouts to ascertain the truth of your claim, and they have confirmed. The worthless insect known as Yarnous has perished. I can feel his murder in your weapon. I can sense your feelings are in disarray. There is no doubt. Your third trial, the Trial of Sacrifice: Passed. Severing your ties to the past to unchain your future.”

Her muscles involuntarily tensed at the mention of Yarnous’ death. Insult was added to injury with the comment about the man’s life being useless. It almost made her lose control, but the Force cautioned her to wait. She visibly trembled with pent up rage.

Seeing that his tactics did not provoke the attack he knew was coming, he spoke again. “Your final trial, the Trial of Ascension is at hand. To prove your worth, all you must do is defeat your master in combat.” The last word was barely out of his mouth when she launched herself at him, fiery orange lightsaber in hand.

His response was lightning fast and countered her blow easily. He pivoted the parry into a counter-attack with his own lightsaber, when she leaped over his head in a flip. The tip of her lightsaber sheared through the side of his helmet, leaving a furrow on his head. Her flip over his head ended with her feet hitting the ground behind him, but she did not stand idle. She ran forward two steps and leaped further away to avoid his attack. She used the momentum of that jump to run several steps on the wall before landing on the floor. When she landed she turned towards him and unleashed a torrent of lighting at him.

The field of her blast was so wide that he was only able to partially avoid it with his own side flip. The flip turned into a roll as he was blasted with the edge of her lightning blast. He grunted in pain when the lightning coursed through him. He knew that a charge that hot would have caused serious damage if he’d been in the middle of it. He regained his feet and whipped around trying to find where the apprentice had gone. She was no longer where she had launched the lightning attack. He jumped forward into a roll a split second before a thrown saber blade whirled by where his head would have been. The room filled with blinding light for a brief moment when Degriro’s red saber with a black core batted her orange blade away. He had been aiming for the hilt but missed and only deflected the blade.

Talo’Ra recalled her orange lightsaber to her offhand and ran directly at him. He had regained his feet and was reacting to her actions. For as big and bulky as he was, he was extremely quick and agile. He dodged out of the way of her initial attack and was surprised that she hadn’t overextended her slash. Instead, she feinted to his left before slashing savagely to his right. He only barely got his block in place in time.

The Blade Master countered with a vicious blow of his own that knocked her lightsaber free of her grasp and a follow-up backhand that should have taken her arm. She had dropped to her knees under the giant Pure Blood, having let go of her original blade. A quick draw later and she had her new lightsaber, the one he didn’t know about in hand. She ignited the blade and struck out with a slash to the inner thigh of his left leg, then scrambled out of the way as he crumpled to the ground.

His cry of pain was gratifying as she regained her feet and spun around. He was already disregarding the pain and standing up when she let loose with another blast of lightning right into his chest. The strike sent him flying backward to slam into the wall. Even in this daze, he knew he was fighting for his life. He reached behind him and grasped a throwing knife and hurled it at her.

The knife buried itself in her side, breaking the concentration needed to continue the stream of lightning. Dropping to her knees again she cried out in pain, a combination of a scream and a growl. Her first instinct was to yank it free, but her medical training told her to leave it there for now so that it didn’t bleed worse than it already was. Her master reached out his hand, grabbed at the air and made a yanking motion.

Talo’Ra felt herself be propelled forward towards a column. She managed to twist around so that her back slammed into it, rather than her chest where the knife still was. The blow scattered her wits for a moment and the Pure Blooded Sith stood up shakily on his feet. He lurched in her direction where she was trying to roll over and get back up.

His lightsaber was poised to strike when she flopped on her side and kicked away from the column, propelled by the Force. It propelled her several feet away while she made a wild swipe at him with her new blue bladed, black core saber and missed. He pivoted to follow her and put an end to this. She blasted a powerful Force Wave at him and it knocked him backward off his feet.

She scrambled to all fours, then up to her feet. Things were getting a little hazy from the injury and putting her all into the fight, her reserves were getting low. She charged in at him and their blades met in that spectacular flash of light again. He thought he had her now since she was extended into this attack. He parried her blade and swung for her midsection. There was a thump as her orange blade landed in her hand and ignited just in time to stop his blow. Her blue blade cut the hilt of his lightsaber in half, rendering it useless.

Their size difference made her have to take two large steps to put a foot on his chest and then cross her blades just under his head. She was going to savor this moment before she took it as a souvenir. The chunk of helmet she had cut off revealed one of his eyes as he looked at her. He coughed out, “Good my apprentice. Your training is now complete. Strike me down and your trials are over.”

She was about to oblige his request when she hesitated. A new thought came into her head. “No.,” she said with an exhausted gasp.

“What do you mean ‘no’? You have me where you want me!” he wheezed.

She simply smiled at him. “I said no. I will not kill you after all. I have beaten you and your life is in my hands.” She paused with a grimace as a wave of pain and nausea rolled over her from her injuries.   
She panted out, “But now, I want. You. To live.” Another wave of pain caused her to shudder and one of her blades sizzled on Degriro’s neck.   
She sputtered a laugh at that and said, “Know why tough guy? No guesses? Well I’ll te-” another stab of pain interrupted her diatribe.   
“-tell, you... It’s because now, you’ve been beaten by a girl.”

Withdrawing her blades from by his neck she staggered backward a few steps before righting herself. She painfully hobbled towards the door while never turning her back on him and lightsabers still ignited. At the door she started laughing at his collapsed form. “Beaten, by a girl.” She started coughing in her laugh and managed to choke out. “I’m telling EVERYONE.”

She lurched down the hall a short way before disengaging her sabers and clipping them on her belt. This freed up her hands to put pressure on the gaping knife wound that still had a passenger in it. She reached into her satchel and pulled forth a wad of gauze wrap. The internal injuries and blood loss were catching up to her and she needed to move quickly. She wrapped the gauze around her middle and the knife to hold skin and blade in place. The bleeding wasn’t stopped, but it had slowed to an ooze: Good enough for now.

Once done she continued down the hallway with one of her lightsabers in hand in case it was needed. All she encountered on her stumbling trip to the landing pad, were wide-eyed servants. They either stood still in shock or scattered like scared birds. At last, she reached the pad after having walked for an eternity from where she left her master.

She struggled up the ramp and down the hallway to the cockpit. It was as she had left it with a pre-planned course set. The autopilot button had been primed and all she needed to do was confirm. She didn’t even look at it and hit the button with bloody fingers. Trusting that the Force would have warned her if someone had tampered, she let the ship do its thing as she sat in the pilot’s chair, absolutely exhausted.


	5. Fall Out

The world swam around her as the ship took off from the pad and accelerated to reach orbit. A few minutes later when a stable orbit had been achieved, she struggled to stand up and failed. Time was running out and she needed a solution. She reached into her medical pouch again and pulled a hypospray out. It was already loaded with Kolto. Not the one she wanted but it would do.

She managed to pull down the gauze wrapped around the wound in her side and jammed the hypo into the wound and triggered it. The soothing feeling began immediately and the damage was being repaired already, but it wasn’t enough. She reached into her satchel again and fished around for the stimulant. Finding it she knocked the empty vial out of the device and locked the new one in place.

Her vision was doubled while she fought with it. She dialed for a quarter dose and then jabbed it into her neck. A moment later some of the fog lifted and her vision less blurred. She felt a little strength return and she took advantage of it by prying herself out of the chair finally. It was agony to straighten up and she growled loudly through clenched teeth.

The young woman staggered to the hallway and then slid along the wall the rest of the way, leaving a smear of blood. She made it to the makeshift med-bay she had arranged whilst waiting for this fight and dropped to her knees. She cried out at the gut-wrenching pain the sudden jarring had caused and reached for the supplies. With shaking fingers she laid them out in the order that she would need them.

She tried using some small scissors to cut the existing gauze free, but couldn’t coordinate the movements with her hands. She involuntarily tossed her head back in pain before forcing it back to where she could see. “Oh kriff it.” she said. Grabbing a wad of gauze in one hand and the handle of the knife in the other she yanked it free with searing pain and pressed the wad into the gash.

She nearly passed out with the effort and pain. She scrambled for another quarter dose of stimulant and injected it. She dropped that one and then called upon the Force for a Curato Salva healing technique. Her concentration was marred by the pain, but she was able to mend much of the internal damage. She would no longer bleed to death.

She picked up another hypo with a painkiller in it. That was immediately injected in several places around the wound. She had saved that one for this moment in case it had put her to sleep. The pain receded and she felt light-headed. It was wonderful. She reveled in the lack of pain she felt and slumped further into the wall she had been leaning against.

A few moments later she roused herself enough to remove the wad of gauze and inject more Kolto into the wound. It oozed blood at her in response. Dressing the wound properly she wearily crawled the rest of the way to her quarters and bed.

\---------------

A short time later she awoke on the floor next to her bed. She puzzled out what had happened and stiffly rose to her feet. It was painful but she managed. In the cockpit, she sat in the pilot’s chair once again and made the calculations for her jump to lightspeed. Once the ship was aligned she engaged the drive and listened to it spool up the enormous amount of energy it needed.

She slept again while the ship traveled to its destination at Korriban. An alarm woke her when it was time for reversion to regular space. Her brain was foggy but she paid it no heed. She reverted and went through the motions of docking like normal. When she rose from her seat another searing pain in her side caused her to double over. She felt a light sheen of sweat on her brow and knew she had a fever. Something was wrong and she didn’t know what. Poison?

She made sure she had her lightsabers on her belt and stiffly walked as normally as she could. It was mid-day so everyone was out and about. She hated being this vulnerable in front of everyone but did not have a choice. If that blade had been poisoned, then she needed to find a cure for it and soon. Sweat began to sting her eyes as it rolled down her face.

Ruqua was one of those heading to her next class after her normal meal with Ganlaan. Talo’Ra had been watching the two get close over the last six months. The process seemed to have been accelerated by her month-long absence. It wasn’t unheard of for relations to strike up in the open. Vigorous youth and the prospect of sudden death bred hormones.

The Cathar found Talo’Ra leaning against a wall and trying to catch her breath, with sweat pouring off of her. The women exchanged glances before Talo’Ra said “Med bay. Degriro. Poison.” A moment later the Human woman fainted.

Ruqua knew that she should just carry on with her business and let this one die, or whatever she was doing. However, one fact jumped out at her. Talo’Ra had said their master’s name. She had clearly been in a horrendous fight and was gravely injured. The Cathar knew that they had both recently finished their third trial. Had Talo’Ra just fought, and beaten, their master? Was it possible?

If she had been the winner and looked like this, what must Degriro look like? She relished the thought of him being beaten to a pulp, or better yet, dead. She hated him with the burning fire of a star for what he’d made her do. If he was dead then she would have to find another way to ascend. If he wasn’t, then this was her chance to kill him herself now that he was weakened. A fair fight means nothing to a Sith.

She had to know what happened. She didn’t feel a recent death in the Force around her, but she wasn’t sure. Besides, Ganlaan would never forgive her if she let this woman die and he didn’t get to try and figure out what the poison was. Using the Force she picked up the unconscious apprentice and floated her along while heading to the med bay.

Upon arrival, she sought Ganlaan out. As was normal he was up to his eyeballs in patients. Darth Freen was there to supervise the apprentices, but barely bothered when it was Ganlaan. His natural healing ability and instincts were razor sharp. He was, in fact, Freen’s hand-picked successor, much the way Ruqua was for the Blade Master.

Ganlaan only noticed them entering because of the floating body covered in bloody clothes. When he saw the Cathar with her he put the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind. “Another victim of your practice, Ruqua?”

She gave him a toothy feline grin that set the fur on her cheeks standing out like whiskers. “Not this time. I don’t know what happened to her. She said something about poison before she passed out. I thought you’d like to investigate. See if you can figure out the poison.” She quirked an eyebrow at him, “Who knows; you might even save her life.”

Darth Freen said “Poison, is it? A mystery!” and dissolved into near-hysterical laughter. The two apprentices exchanged a mildly alarmed glance. “Well? Come on girl, set this pretty down.” As the body was levitated onto a table Freen said “Oh! I know this one. Good skill. Stubborn. She’s no you though, is she, apprentice?” The Darth cackled in what sounded like a female voice. No one was quite sure what the Darth was as he or she always wore an ambiguous uniform and mask. The only certainties were Freen’s skills and that the Darth was quite mad.

Ganlaan kept his face blank as he set to work on Talo’Ra. Using a variety of scanners he took measurements. He managed to stabilize her failing systems. None of the scanners could define exactly what the substance was that was slowly killing her. He turned to Freen and said “My Lord, I’m afraid I do not know what’s doing this. I am at a loss. None of the scanners show anything definite, yet I can feel it in the Force that she is dying.”

Darth Freen lowered its head into what seemed like a stern gaze on him. “Have you tried, everything, you can think of? Is there nothing else?” This time Freen sounded like a man.

Ganlaan searched his mind for a moment. One could imagine the wheels turning quickly in there. He hesitated in his answer. “I haven’t tried that new technique you have been teaching me. I have not mastered it yet.”

Freen said in a harsh voice, “Did I ask if you had mastered it yet? No! I asked if you had tried everything. Answer the right question!” The Darth then cuffed him hard in the back of the head. Ganlaan’s slicked-back hair went flying into disarray at the blow and he smoothed it back.

“Apologies, my Lord. I will use it now. I’m sorry.”

In what sounded like a happy and girlish voice, Freen said “Great! I’m sure you’ll get it!” Another alarmed glance passed between the apprentices, before he set to work. A wispy and vaguely purple mist seemed to emanate from the man. Its ephemeral nature made it seem to blink in and out of existence as it reached out. A tendril, much like that of a tentacle, attached itself to the arm of Talo’Ra.

As soon as it happened, Ganlaan was able to feel her essence and seemingly see inside of her. His golden eyes lost focus as he used the Force for sight, rather than them. He spoke in a distant voice to catalog what he saw: Her injuries, her organ status, and finally, the substance. His eyebrows drew down as he tried to discern the identity of it.

After a minute of wrestling with the problem, he changed tactics. Memorizing its impression, he took notes from all the scanners and cross-referenced them, using the Force to guide his fingers. “I’ve never heard of this one before my Lord. Quell toxin?”

Darth Freen danced in place. “Ahhhh. You found it. Well done. I didn’t know if you had it in you to find it.” The Darth’s demeanor changed in a second to more of a lecturing tone. “Lord Drowl discovered this little known gem of poison more than 20 years ago. He was creative, that man. Balmorra will never be the same.”

Ganlaan directed his gaze at Freen, “You mean, you knew which poison it was the whole time?”

Giggling again Freen said “Of course I knew. I’m the one who gave it to Lord Degriro, ah, Darth Wyckedd now. I knew both this pretty doll and your pet cat here would be facing him soon. I wondered if I’d get to see this in action!” Freen bounced in place and clapped gloved hands together quickly. “I’m so excited! It’s like my birthday again.” Freen cuffed Ganlaan again and said angrily, “Well? Why aren’t you administering the antidote? Get to it you oaf?”

Anger flared in his eyes before he was able to hide it. The Darth didn’t take kindly to any shows of defiance. Most students learned this the hard way; Ganlaan still had a scar from his first lesson. Having never used that particular one before, he moved to the antidote cabinet to see where it might be. He had just found it when Freen’s communicator went off.

The masked face peered into the unit and drew out the word “Well. Lord Degriro has met with some unfortunate circumstances. It seems someone sliced him up pretty good. The Blade Master has a boo-boo.” More cackling was followed by a stern voice. “I will patch him up, but this one had better watch her step from now on.” Freen giggled and started skipping on her way out, “Oh this is marvelous! The fearsome blade guy. He’s got an owwie! He’s got an owwie! He’s got an owwie!” This last echoed back down the hall to the med-bay, everyone who was awake exchanged nervous glances.

Ruqua broke the moment with a quip “That went well. Don’t you think?” She flashed her canines at him and he actually smiled back. He got busy with reading how to administer the antidote and then set word to action. Once done, it was down to a waiting game to see if she survived.

He triple checked the monitors on her and then wandered off to his other patients. All the beds were lined up along the outside walls for immediate treatment by medical techs and droids. Patients were then discharged or sent to more private rooms for long term recovery. Very few were fully treated with Force healing as it was quite taxing on the one performing the act.

Ruqua pulled her hood up and over to partially hide her face. She watched him make his rounds in the large room with open admiration and hungry eyes. The hood ensured that none of these common folk would easily be able to determine her line of site, not that any tried. Apprentices tended to be wantonly cruel to try and impress the higher ups. None without rank dared to even look at them for fear of being killed for little to no reason.

Ganlaan felt her observation and grinned slightly at the thought of her doing it. However, he had a job to do, Freen would teach him another ‘lesson’ if he didn’t attend to it. A new emergency patient had his attention for quite a while, as she was choking on her own fluids. A few tense moments later her airway was cleared and he performed a major repair on the spot. Once done he directed some underlings on how to finish treating her.

When he came back around to Talo’Ra’s bed he said in a grouchy tone, “I don’t know why I have to save all these nobodies. Half of them are Spice addled trash, too stupid to dodge a falling rock. This is a waste of my talents.”

Ruqua replied, “Oh! The great and powerful Ganlaan has to deal with the riff-raff. The scandal of it!” She started laughing at his annoyed reaction. “Come on. You know what that freak Freen would say; ‘The resources of the Empire are not infinite. We must be efficient with what we have.’ Then start laughing or choke you. Equal odds either way. He’s Bantha poodoo deklaw.”

“He? You think Freen’s a male?”

“Well we can’t keep calling it, ‘it’ now can we? I decided to pick a side.” She said this with a combination of conviction and curiosity since no one seemed to know the truth.

He sighed while checking Talo’Ra’s monitors. “I suppose you’re right. Again.” She smiled maliciously at him under her hood. “I heard that.” he said without looking at her. “Well well, it looks like Talo is going to live. Her vitals are approaching normal. Now, we should look at her other wounds. This one on her side seemed the worst. Help me undress her.”

Ruqua said slyly, “You just want to get her naked.” When he stopped moving to rebuke her she started to laugh. “Oh come on, it’s what every guy wants: Us girls, naked.”

“Really? Her clothes are covered in dried blood, and who knows what other bacteria. I need to clean this up or she will get another infection and die.”

She rolled her feline eyes as she dropped her hood back down to have an unobstructed view. “Okay, okay, I get it. Spoil sport.” She pretended to pout the whole time they were removing Talo’Ra’s clothes. “Happy? You got her naked and ruined my fun all in one shot.”

He ignored the jab as he inspected the wound on her side. It was partially healed over but it was a sloppy job. “I have to open this up again.” A droid rolled by and stopped with a fresh hospital gown on a tray and the Cathar picked them up.

“This is awfully revealing. Sure you don’t want me to model this for you later?”

His golden eyes tracked over to her lithe form and looked her up and down slowly. “Keep one for yourself.” He got back to work again, opening then cleaning the wound out. A few minutes later he was done and began channelling the Force into the wound. A green mist surrounded the wound and a normally painful process was never felt by the unconscious woman.

While he was working he said, "Deklaw? What is that?"

She said, "Someone hasn't been studying the Sith language. It means crazy. Nuts, has a screw loose, bonkers, his shuttle has slipped off the landing pad-"

"Okay, I get it." He actually chuckled in public with this. He never did that.

He had just injected the last of the Kolto into the wound to keep it from splitting open again when Talo’Ra stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and confusion entered them. How had she gotten here? Her gaze swung to a familiar figure bending over her stomach. Weakly she said “Gan? What’s going on?” Her head rolled to the other side and saw Ruqua there as well. “Ru?”

Ruqua leaned over and looked into the apprentice’s eyes “The one and only.” She looked down the Human’s body and back up, “Gan was just admiring your body dear.”

The drug induced fog in her brain did not allow for Talo’Ra to keep her defenses up. She said “It’s not the first time he’s seen it.”

Ruqua spluttered with mirth as she couldn’t help but chortle wickedly. “Oh ho! Has he now?” She cast a dangerous gaze in his direction. “Nothing recent I trust.” The menace in her voice was unmistakable.

His normally expressionless face seemed to go rock hard as he replied, “It was a long time ago. Before you.”

Somewhat mollified, the Cathar dropped it for now. It would be fun to make him squirm about it later. Talo’Ra confusedly asked again “What happened? I can’t remember.” Her eyes sagged almost completely shut and she forced them open again.

Ruqua said, “Well I don’t know dear. I found you in a hallway raving about poison. Then Freen got a message that someone had mugged the Blade Master in a dark alley, or something.” She tilted her head to the side and said “You tell us.”


	6. Complications

Talo’Ra slowly woke again several hours later. Her latest drug induced confusion was once again thwarting her reasoning abilities. After a moment of trying to clear the fog, the stringent smell of disinfectants settled her mind. There was only one place she knew of with that odor, the Med-Bay.

As her head stopped spinning, she looked around to find a haggard looking Ganlaan still working his shift. She wondered how long it had been since she had related the happenings to him and Ruqua. The Cathar had been overjoyed at hearing of the downfall of their master. She had laughed uproariously at Talo’Ra’s parting words to Degriro. Even the stoic Ganlaan had smiled briefly.

Once the story had been told and all questions answered, he declared that Talo’Ra needed rest. To that end he had given her another injection to make her sleep again. Tired as she was, she hadn’t objected. Now that she was regaining her senses though, she was ravenously hungry. The hunger pains gnawed at her insides like a pack of angry Rancors.

Ganlaan noticed her waking up and came over to check on her. He talked to himself as he looked her over and double checked the wound in her side. In the two years they had worked together, she knew this as a sure sign of his fatigue. He must be nearing the end of this rotation.

Her throat was dry when she tried to speak, but managed to croak out, “How long until you’re done?” He had just finished adjusting her chart and was about to answer when her stomach growled. She flushed at the sound.

“I’m off in two more hours. I won’t miss these rotations one little bit” he replied tiredly. “As for you, you’re in good shape now. Your side was a mess so I had to go back in, and then do a lot of healing.” He stepped away out of her sight and returned a moment later with a bottle of water and a meal bar.

She accepted them with grudging thanks and opened both immediately. Between mouthfuls she asked, “When can I get out of here?”

He looked over her chart again and the sensors attached to her and said, “How do a couple hours strike you?”

She narrowed her yellow eyes and said “Convenient. Is there any reason why I should wait until your shift is done to leave?” She itched to have a lightsaber in hand. She relaxed after a moment. He could have just let her die from her wounds, or had killed her while she slept, if he wanted to harm her.

He leaned close as if to check on one of the machines by her and said “You are to be killed tonight.” Her heart jumped to her throat. “Control your emotions. They will feel it.”

She took a drink of water while she gathered her thoughts. Was the Council going to finish her for attacking her master? No. It couldn’t be the Council. They would have just had Ganlaan end her while she slept. Was Degriro engineering something for her? Again, she didn’t think so. He is more of the direct action kind. She looked at the other apprentice and said, “Who? How?”

He glanced around them before speaking again. “A faction loyal to Degriro has decided to take action on his behalf. It seems they knew about your actions before you even arrived back here. Why they waited to call for Freen to his aid, I don’t know.” His eyes fixed on a point beyond the datapad he held. “We are being observed. I must move on or it will look suspicious. Open your mind.”

He walked away with this cryptic message to his next patient. She was annoyed and confused by this sudden departure before she had more information. A moment later an itch in her brain started, then grew more insistent. Telepathy! She thought. How had she forgotten such an important tool? It took a keen mind, and a tremendous amount of concentration, to perform the task. The two of them had been partnered in the class for many months so barriers to communication were small between them.

His voice broke into her consciousness after she lowered her defenses. It’s about time you let me in. Listen closely. This faction after you is headed by a middle manager with dreams above her station. Unfortunately, she is untouchable to us for now. The important part is that she has reached out to some of the apprentices and mercs. They believe that if they kill you, they will gain favor with Degriro and the council. I doubt he even knows who she is; much less sanctioned a hit on academy grounds.

Talo’Ra digested this information as she chewed on the last of the meal bar. And, why would you be warning me about this? It doesn’t concern you. One more dead apprentice and you have less competition for power.

I’m counting on that. The itch for a lightsaber suddenly grew again at this comment. Her eyes narrowed again in suspicion. He continued Those coming against you are scum: The weak and the cowardly. Their whole purpose in life is to die. We are simply going to accommodate that fate.

We? I still don’t know why you would help me.

Simple math. Not everyone gets made a Lord of the Sith, even when they pass their trials. The larger the pool, the less likely it is for us getting what is rightfully ours. Tonight we cull the weak, and the stupid. He continued in his pretense of updating charts as he spoke telepathically.

She contemplated his words and searched the Force for the truth of the situation. Say I believe you. How does this play out?

Ukodi will find you when you leave here. He will have an urgent task to escort you to a council member. This is a trap. He was approached for this assignment as an assassin. He is, however, on our side. When you are captured and the fighting starts, he will turn. Ru and I will be nearby. No mercy.

Talo’Ra’s eyes lost focus as she slowly looked down toward her lap. It made sense to eliminate some of the competition. It showed the higher ups that you have the strength and ability. It wasn’t unheard of for this to happen. Of the current crop of senior apprentices, she thought that they were the most deserving of being Sith Lords.

Alright, I’ll go along with it. But if you betray me, I won’t stop like I did with Degriro. She paused to transmit enough animosity at him that would make most men quail. Ganlaan didn’t even blink. What else do I do?

Ganlaan laid out a detailed plan based on what little information they had. He was not a tactical genius, but he was no slouch either. He looked to long term plotting and revenge, while many of their peers merely sought what was in front of them. This reaffirmed her wariness of him when they were not allied.

While he transmitted they both continued to survey their surroundings for anyone paying her undue attention. Once he was done, she nodded slightly and laid her head back. Seems like a sound plan. Are you up to this? You’ve been working for twenty-four hours. Did you get a nap in down time?

His eyes had betrayed his fatigue when he was near, so it was no surprise when he said, I did not. It has been a busy day. Darth Sinasi has been terrorizing the students again with the Ataru blade form classes. Half of them didn’t make it two rounds without being shot down by stun bolts. However, I have a Pazaak card up my sleeve. I have acquired an adrenal stim; High potency, short duration. I will sleep well once we are done.

She fought to keep a wicked grin from forming on her face. Trust him to find a cheat when it matters. She closed her eyes to get all the rest she could before this battle, They’ll never know what hit them.

\-------------------------

The appointed time came and went when a fresh emergency came in right at shift change. Talo’Ra was glad she wasn’t the one who had to attend to this one. The acolyte was literally cut to pieces and she doubted even Freen would be able to keep the lump of meat alive.

She piddled around and made a painful show of stretching out her injuries and struggling to get dressed. In truth she had not felt better in quite a while. Ganlaan’s skill was increasing exponentially with time. She knew she would never be a true rival to him in medicine now. No matter. There were other things to worry about.

Ganlaan called the death time for the paperwork. He handed that paperwork and the bloody mess over to the new shift and left to clean up. She finished getting ready and started to make her way out, holding her side as if it were not fully healed.

Ganlaan’s voice sounded in her head again, A clever deception. If I had not personally seen to your treatment, I would be convinced. Their connection was starting to get tenuous with distance and she made out -you outside.

She made slow progress down the hall from the med-bay. She had the feeling of being watched and not just by her momentary allies. Had she not spent time with the Legion and purposely going into head on combat, she might have been a little unnerved. Facing an unknown quantity and quality of opponents in what was to be an ambush was a daunting task.

She left the building that comprised the hospital at the Academy. It was evening on Korriban and the last light of the day was painting the canyon walls blood red. A light breeze sent up swirls of dust in the corners of buildings as she walked stiffly towards the Cantina. Even with the pathway lights turning on, the first stars were starting to shine through the clear sky.

Her fatalistic side told her that it was a beautiful night to die. Her ferocious will to live replied that it was indeed a good night for these fools to die. Even if her back up didn’t show, she would take as many of them with her as she could. She had no illusions about taking on ten or more academy trained swordsmen by herself. She had grown considerably in power and skill in the last months. However that didn’t mean much in the face of sheer numbers.

Footsteps meant to be heard approached from her left and she recognized Ukodi’s presence before she saw him. Normally this didn’t happen because he was constantly practicing stealth of sight, sound and force presence. No, he wanted to be seen and heard which is exactly what Ganlaan had said would happen so far. Good.

Ukodi gave a friendly greeting “Hey Talo. I’d heard you were just about dead a couple days ago. You seem ok though.” His voice also sounded in her head, Ganlaan spoke you? He wasn’t as adept at telepathy as she was, but it got the job done.

She grimaced in feigned pain and said “Yeah, I had a bad run in. Ganlaan in the Med-Bay got me up to speed though. Still not one hundred percent.” She hoped he got her double meaning. She also replied telepathically to him that she had been spoken to, but she had no idea if he understood it. He really needed much more practice and stubbornly refused to.

“That’s good,” he replied. “Listen, Councilor Eros has sent for you and I’m to escort you to him. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

She played her part with a proper look of shock and intimidation that one of the twelve had sent for her. They were the highest body in the Sith Order, second only to the Emperor. “A councilor? Oh. Yes. I, we should go. Lead on.”

He turned and led her off into the darkening shadows. He kept up a line of banter the whole time they travelled. “I’ve been hearing some impressive things about you. I hear that you’re the one to watch in the Academy. Is it true that you killed a Hutt in her own fortress by yourself?”

She knew the purpose of this constant barrage was to keep her off balance. Being unnerved that such a powerful entity had called for her personally and now being grilled by Ukodi would keep most focused on the present. Not looking for deception or traps. He was doing a nice job of it too. He already knew the answers to his questions since they had talked between duels.

They wandered far from the normal academy buildings and were close to the loading docks when they entered a building. Ukodi entered first, waited for her to follow and then looked back out the door to see if they were being followed. Satisfied he closed the door behind them.The only light in the building came through the windows and one dimly lit doorway.

He said, “I’ve been instructed to guard this door while you have your meeting. The back door is blocked by piles of scrap metal. No one is getting in or out that way. You are to go down this hall to the first room on the left. The Councilor is there waiting.”

Talo’Ra would have been leery of this setup even if she hadn’t known it was a trap. Ukodi did his part well, the location and set up were pure amateur though. She felt a light touch in her mind that only Ganlaan could have performed given their history. It was an image of a shadowy cat with blazing golden eyes. Neither of them knew if anyone else could pick up on their telepathic communications so the signal was specifically vague. She knew the cat was Ruqua, the golden eyes were him and the shadow was Ukodi.

All was in place. Time to spring the trap. She kept up the pretense of her injury even in the darkness as she made her way down the hallway. Before she had even taken her first step, she could feel the Force telling her of the trap she already knew about. Great, thanks for the heads up way too late she thought.

Entering the room, she called out for the counselor she knew wasn’t there. As instructed by Ganlaan she walked to the center of the room and waited. There was a hurried shuffling of feet as a string of apprentices and mercenaries spread out all around her. It wasn’t hard for her to act alarmed at being in the middle of a deadly circle.

The room was dark, and she couldn’t make out many faces as she called out “What is the meaning of this?”

A voice she recognized called out to her off to her right. The apprentice Jen’Rhak, her most recent lover said, “I thought it would have been obvious. This is where you die my lovely. Darth Wyckedd sends his regards”

“Even you Jen? I must say I’m hurt by your infidelity. Oh well, you weren’t good at it anyways.” He spluttered a protest as she drew her new lightsaber and ignited the blade. Holding it’s blue blade around a jet black core at the ready she said “Oh and one last thing.” She snapped her fingers and four more lightsabers sprang to life. Simultaneously four heads dropped to the floor in the middle of the circle before their former owner's bodies followed suit.

Ruqua’s two red bladed sabers gave her a demonic look in the dark, Ganlaan’s green blade was at odds with his eyes and Ukodi had already melted back into the shadows. The shock Ganlaan had calculated lasted a full two seconds longer than he had anticipated. Talo’Ra used this moment to rush forward, her speed enhanced by the Force to make her image a blur.

Her intended target recovered just fast enough to raise his own lightsaber in defense. Ruqua giggled as she rushed forward, her twin blades carving a path of destruction. Ukodi appeared again to spear a merc that was firing his blaster at Ganlaan through the chest. He disappeared in a cloak again to reappear a moment later to cut an apprentice in half.

Talo’Ra spun in place, sending a kick into the face of a mercenary that was panic firing into the room at large. One shot had already glanced off of Ruqua’s battle armor. The merc fell back as the room was suddenly filled with lightning, no doubt Ganlaan’s doing. The smell of burned flesh filled the air as three charred corpses fell to the ground.

Talo’Ra deflected a series of blaster bolts and then jumped up to perform a table top spin above the swing of Jen’Rhak’s blade. She landed a little off balance and turned it into a sideways roll. Coming out of the roll she threw out her free hand in a Force push that knocked Jen’Rhak and another apprentice backwards.

Ruqua was hit square in the side with a Force push that launched her away. Her feline grace turned a tumble into a flip that ended in a dropkick to an apprentice's back. The shattering spine could be heard even over the din of humming and clashing lightsabers and blasters being fired.

A flash-bang went off and partially crippled most of the room. The one who threw it tried to escape only to be dragged back by the Force. Ukodi appeared in front of the flying body and cut it in half from right shoulder to left hip. The body parts flew past him and he spun his double bladed lightsaber at blinding speed at one of the few remaining apprentices.

Ruqua had rolled sideways after crushing the spine of her victim. She recovered and spun to find the next. A large Gree started panic firing his blaster at her. She deflected each bolt and ran at him. Two steps away she dropped to her knees and slid under him, slicing off both of his legs. She used the momentum to bring up one blade and spear another merc through the belly and the other to block the blade of the second to last apprentice.

The Cathar ripped her blade through the side of the mercenary she had stabbed and started a spinning attack against the clearly out classed opponent. First one blade then another was flashing at and around the woman who was now shrieking in fear. A barrel streaked out of nowhere and crushed her skull, blood splattering everywhere.

Ruqua yelled, “Damn it Gan! I was having fun!”

He replied, “You were just playing with your food and it wouldn’t stop screaming. Had to do it.”

Talo’Ra dealt with a pair of Trandoshans that had been peppering her location with blaster fire. She had been forced to dodge and spin until she got behind an unfortunate Bith. She used the Bith’s body as a shield while she ran over to the Trandoshans. She hurled the body at the male and lunged at the female, cutting off her arms which sent her backwards. A purple blade sprang forth from her chest when Ukodi appeared in her path.

The male Trandoshan flung the dead Bith aside just in time to see his death coming in the form of a thrown lightsaber. Its red blade spun in a deadly arc and severed the lizard's head from its body before returning to Ruqua’s hand. She giggled again and said, “Oh I LOVE doing that!”

“Jen’Rhak! It’s down to you” Talo’Ra called out. He had jumped a dozen feet into the air and landed on a shelf when the whirlwind of death known as Ruqua had come close to him. He jumped down from his vantage point and surveyed the room. It was hard to tell from all the body parts strewn about, but it looked as if every last one of the ambushers was now dead or dying.

Ganlaan and Ru started casually stabbing bodies to make sure they were dead, or finish the maimed ones. He weighed his options carefully and quickly decided on a plan and back up plan. “Talo. Baby. No hard feelings right? You would have done the same thing if it meant getting an edge.” He was backing up slowly towards one of the two windows in this room. “We had a good thing, you and I, right?” He broke and ran, using the Force to boost his speed to a blur. Leaping for the window he was jerked back and slammed to the floor.

Five lightsaber blades lit up the area immediately around him, Ukodi did not have both ends of his ignited. He tried to scramble to his feet and found he was being held in place with the Force by Ganlaan.

He rasped out “No. It wasn’t-” he was cut off as Talo’Ra plunged her lightsaber into his rib cage and let the plasma sear that lung to uselessness. He gurgled out a scream at the pain and started to hyperventilate with his remaining lung. She repeated the process on the other side, making sure to avoid the heart.

The four apprentices watched impassively as Jen’Rhak gulped for air like a fish out of water and his eyes bulged in horror. The light left his eyes a moment later. All the lightsaber blades winked out of existence and were then clipped to belts.

Talo’Ra turned to Ganlaan who was wiping blood from a broken nose. “That went almost exactly as you said it would. I’m impressed.” She reached into her medical satchel and produced a gauze patch. She grabbed his face and surveyed the damage.

He replied, “I’m impressed as well. Usually a battle plan doesn’t survive the first shot fired.” A long low grunt followed this as she set his nose and blood started flowing again. She placed the gauze under it and then channeled the Force into the area. He grunted and hissed as the feeling of icy needles knit the broken blood vessels back together. She held it there while she got a hypo of Kolto and injected it right into his face. “Damn it Talo! Son of a… That…”

She smirked as she finished. “Sucks, doesn’t it?” He glowered at her as she turned her attention to Ruqua “Are you hurt?”

The Cathar said, “Just my pride. This armor is a little stiff. It slowed me down. But it did absorb the damage instead of me. Overall I can’t complain...much.”

They all turned to see a grinning Ukodi. Ganlaan said “Figures. You didn’t get touched.” He looked around at the pile of bodies. “Well. I say we loot the dead for trophies. If we don’t, then the cleanup crew will, and I’ve already paid them.” He reached out a hand and Jen’Rhak’s saber flew to his hand. He presented it to Talo’Ra saying, “You definitely earned this one.”

Everyone froze in place when slowly clapping hands sounded in the dark. A disembodied voice said, “Well done apprentices.”


End file.
